Youngblood
by AJHLing
Summary: Takara woke up in Amegakure with no memories of her past at age seven. Fast forward a year living on the streets she is approached by a masked man and taken to God's Tower, where she is experimented on. (Full summary inside. I don't own Naruto it belongs to Masashi Kishimoto).
1. Chapter 1

Takara woke up – nameless – in Amegakure with no memories of her past at age seven. Fast forward a year living on the streets, barely surviving, she is approached by a masked man and taken to God's Tower, where she is experimented on.

When she awakens, she learns she's the only survivor of the experiment and that she was to train to become a shinobi. Training under the masked man who brought her to God's Tower she learns that the shinobi world is a harsh, cruel world and that the experiment will bring out abilities that she shouldn't have.

**Chapter One**

I shivered as the rain pelted down on me and the cold, winter air shook me to the core. I curled up into my hoodie, watching as the world passed me by as I sat on the edge of the footpath. I watched with pistachio-green coloured eyes as no one payed any mind to me. I was just one orphan among hundreds in this village, and they knew it just as much as I did.

I knew that I probably wouldn't survive for much longer in this village. How I survived for so long in the first place is a miracle. You see, I had no memories of my past, only my age which was eight. I have been on the streets for the last year, when I woke up in an alleyway not too far from where I was currently situated.

"You, are you alone?"

I paused in my shivering, looking up past my hood to stare at the man before me. He wore a mask – not so unusual in a village full of shinobi – and a black long-sleeved top with black shinobi pants and matching black shinobi sandals. Despite what he wore, he had no headband and I was weary of him. Was he from this village? Or another? Was he an enemy?

"Well?"

I bit my lip and nodded wearily, knowing that this could either be a good or bad thing depending on the person talking to me. He grunted and turned his back on me, looking over his shoulder at me.

"Come with me."

I paused before wearily standing up off the dry spot that was where I had been sitting. I followed the man through the crowed cautiously. One thing I learnt living on the street was not to trust anyone until they give you good reason to. And people rarely give you good reason to trust them.

He led me to a large building in the centre of the village, making me hesitate even more. This was the home to God and his Angel. Why would the man bring me here? What use did I have to be here? The man paused at the door of the tall building. He turned to face me.

"Behave."

I nodded and he walked in as if he owned the place. I followed him through the building until we entered a room where a woman with lavender-coloured hair and amber coloured eyes stood. She looked at the man in interest.

"What did you bring now?"

"Not a what, Konan, a who," the man who led me here replied, pushing me forward. "Can you not sense the chakra wafting from her? She may be what we've been looking for."

"You mean what _you've_ been looking for," the woman stated, looking at me with a well-schooled face, not showing her true thoughts. "Pein-sama will not be happy with you bringing another child here for this," she added, and I winced.

"Now that's my problem isn't it?" the man questioned simply, and the woman's eyes narrowed as she turned on her heels and walked through a door that I hadn't noticed was behind her.

The man pushed me forward and I followed her, with him behind me into a room where I saw a man with straight, red hair. He looked up when we entered, and his gaze landed on me. He frowned.

"Another one?" he muttered as he stood up, walking past the desk he had been seated at and looking at the man behind with something akin to disdain in his strangely ringed eyes.

"This one's chakra levels might be just what we need," the first man replied.

"That's what you said about the last one," the second man stated simply before turning to me. "What's your name?"

I shrugged. "I don't know."

He frowned.

"How can you not know your own name?" the woman questioned in annoyance.

"I woke up in this village a year ago with no memories but my age. I am eight," I replied, holding up my fingers to prove my point.

"No memories?" the second man questioned before facing the first man. "Did you know this when you chose her?"

"I suspected, Nagato, nothing more," the first man replied with a shrug.

"Fine, we will try the experiment. But this is the last one. If it fails, no more," the second man stated turning his back as the first man chuckled.

"Of course, Nagato," he stated and bent down, picking me up and leaving the room with me on his hips. "Come on, little one, we have something that can make you stronger. Won't you just love that?"

I knew whatever he was planning wasn't going to be good, but I didn't really have much of choice now did I. "Will it hurt?"

The man chuckled. "I'll knock you out so you don't feel a thing. But I will tell you this," he paused as he opened a door leading in a medical-like room. "You will probably die."

I whimpered at his words but didn't fight him. I was a weak nobody. There was no way I could fight my way out of here alone. The man placed me on the medical bed and rummaged around in the room for something. He returned with a needle and I whimpered again as he didn't give me enough to time to react as he stuck it in me, pushing the liquid in the needle into my system.

Quickly I felt myself starting to get dizzy, and then the world started to fade in and out. The man laid me down and buckled my arms and legs to the bed as I groaned.

"Goodnight little one, I hope you survive this," the man stated as I felt the darkness take me completely.

...

I gasped as my eyes shot open and I found myself in a darkened room. I looked around, my eyes adjusting quickly to the world around me as I took in the large room. It had a wooden floor and I was on a futon in the middle of the room. I slowly sat up, wincing as pain rushed through me before looking around further, seeing the room was bare except for the futon and a set of drawers.

I winced as pain shot through my body, settling on my eyes for a brief second before it disappeared. My blanket slid down revealing my naked form. I wondered briefly where my clothes were, but I wondered even more what was going on and where I was. As if to answer my question the door open and the woman that I remembered briefly meeting (is meeting the right word?) entered.

"You're awake," she stated simply kneeling next to me as I nodded. "I will admit, I was surprised that you survived the experiment, but you did, and now you are the most valuable person in all of Amegakure."

I frowned. "W-what do you m-mean?"

"We will explain to you soon enough," she replied and stood up, walking over to the chest of drawers and opening them, grabbing somethings out and walking back to me. "Follow me. You need to bathe."

I stood up on shaky legs and followed the woman next door to a bathroom. She set up the bath, showering me in the shower first before placing me in the bath.

"Relax," she soothed as she started to massage my shoulders and back.

I winced at the brief pain but did as instructed and soon enough she had me out and dried, dressed in a thick winter kimono that was deep blue with light-blue butterflies painted on it. She led me through the halls and into a room where I saw both men from earlier sitting and talking quietly.

When we entered, they looked over at us and the red-haired man stood up, walking up to me and leaning down.

"How are you feeling?"

I thought for a second before responding. "Confused."

He nodded. "To be expected. Are you in any pain?"

I thought for a minute and explained to them about the brief pain I felt when I woke up but that I hadn't felt any pain since. He nodded again and stood back up, turning to face the masked man.

"She's seems to have adjusted well to the procedure," the red-haired man stated and the masked man nodded.

"I suspected she would. If I'm too be honest, I've had my eyes on her since the beginning, but she had so much _potential._ I didn't want to risk her life unnecessarily," the masked man stated before facing me. "I gave you a gift. One that if you had failed would never have been passed on to another."

"W-what g-gift?" I questioned.

"A gift that took _lots_ of experiments to complete," he replied and I frowned, not liking the answer but I wisely held my tongue. He turned to face the woman. "Konan, when do you think she'll be healthy enough to start training?"

"She only just woke up. Give her a week at least, preferably a month. She'll need all her strength to handle the training," the woman replied board.

"T-training?" I questioned and she looked at me.

"You will be trained as a shinobi. The gift given to you is a shinobi skill, one many would – and have – killed for in the past," the woman explained and I nodded, accepting things.

"W-will I s-stay here?" I questioned and this time the red-haired man responded.

"Yes. This building will be your new home, and you will rarely be able to leave it."

I whimpered at the thought of being trapped in this building with these strange people. I may not understand much, but I understood that whatever was done to me, it could've killed me. I understood enough to know that up until I survived the experiment, these people cared little for me.

"Which reminds me. We need to give you a name, little one," the masked man stated.

"A n-name?"

He nodded. "Your name, little one, shall be Takara."

"Treasure? It fits," the woman muttered and the masked man nodded in her general direction.

"Ta-ka-ra?" I sounded out the syllables of me new name before nodding, giving a small smile. "It's pretty."

"Good, because it's your name from now on," the red-haired man stated, walking back behind his desk and sitting down.

"W-who are y-you?" I stuttered out and he frowned.

"The people of this village call me God, but you can call me Pein-sama," he replied and I blushed bright red, having not recognised God.

I turned to face the woman. "Are you Angel then?"

She nodded. "My real name is Konan."

"Konan-san?" I tilted my head and I she nodded in agreement as my gaze fell to the masked man.

"I go by many names, but you can call me Tobi, little one," the masked man answered my unasked questioned and I nodded.

"Tobi-san!" I announced and he chuckled.

"Konan take her to get some food and then summon our best medic. I want her looked over and a proper dietary plan planned out. Make sure this isn't leaked and that the medic doesn't know anything," Pein-sama ordered and Konan-san nodded, taking my hand and leading me out the room and throughout the building till we came to a kitchen.

She gave me a plate with rice and curry on it, grabbing some for herself and we started eating, me a little clumsily as it had been a long time since I last used utensils to eat. After our food she took me back to my room and told me to wait for her to return and then left.

I sat on my futon wondering what she was doing, then remembering Pein-sama mentioning something about a medic. Was I getting a check over? Are they still worried about my health even after the experiment? These thoughts swirled through my head as another pain racked my body and lasted on my eyes. This one lasted a bit longer than the previous one but went away quick enough.

Soon the door opened revealing Konan-san and an awed looking woman watching her. "Angel-sama is this the child?" the woman asked as they entered the room, her eyes looking over me.

Konan-san nodded. "Basho-sensei, this is Takara. She is very precious to God and me, and we want you to make sure she is as healthy as she can be. She will be trained as a shinobi and I want the best dietary plan made for her so she's fit enough to handle tough training."

The medic nodded and knelt next to me, giving me a kind smile. "Hello, Takara-chan. I'm Basho Tomo, and I'm the head medic at the Amegakure Hospital. It's nice to meet you."

"N-nice to meet y-you too, Basho-sensei."

"Now then, Angel-sama told me you had a medical procedure and that she wants me to make sure you are fit as a horse. Can you tell me if you've had any pain since waking up?"

I explained the pain that shot me a couple of times and Basho-sensei nodded writing some stuff down on her clip board before she went about a variety of tests, including weighing me, checking my height, and taking – what she called – my blood pressure. She explained the reasoning behind each test to both me and Konan-san, though I suspected Konan-san already knew, before showing me a couple of needles and explaining that I was to be – what she called – vaccinated.

I flinched as my heartbeat increased as the needle came closer to me, but before I could react even more Konan-san was holding me, the sleeve of my kimono was up and the needles had been injected into me. I gasped, feeling faint over the act and leaned into Konan-san for support.

"You were very brave, Takara-chan," Basho-sensei stated with a smile as she put the empty needles in a yellow container. "Now I have to check your chakra pathway system to make sure it is developed properly and then I can make up a dietary plan. Is that alright with you?"

I nodded as Konan-san let me go and Basho-sensei lifted her hand, it turning a faint green colour. She waved it all over my body before nodding and writing down a couple of more notes on her clipboard. She then faced Konan-san.

"Angel-sama, she is a little bit underweight but overall healthy. Her chakra system is developing along nicely and it is at the right stage for her age group. I will write out a dietary plan for her once I'm back at the hospital and send it over by the end of the day. Will that be alright with you and God-sama?" Basho-sensei questioned and Konan-san nodded.

"That will be acceptable, Basho-sensei."

Basho-san nodded and faced me again. "It was nice to meet you, Takara-chan. I hope we can meet again. I will take my leave now."

Basho-sensei stood up and bowed to us before leaving, and Konan-san turned to face me.

"Get some rest. I will be back in a few hours to check-up on you," she stated before leaving and I got undressed to the underlayer of my kimono, hopping into the futon and going to sleep, finding that I was exhausted from the events that happened over the last two hours.

**(Hey, so I'm writing this new story, trying something new and all that. I don't really have a planned romance for this story but hey, any suggestions and I will consider it. Anyway, please review and tell me what you think ^_^)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

Over the course of the month, I was set on a special dietary plan that consisted of overly healthy drinks and foods, but along with that came a realisation that I didn't know how to read or write properly. This led to tutors being brought into the building to teach me how to do these things along with mathematics and the basics of science.

I didn't see Pein-sama often, Konan-san often sitting in on my lessons, and I regularly met up with Tobi-san to make sure everything was fine with me physical, mentally, and emotionally. It wasn't the best existence, but it wasn't the worse. Plus, it was a whole lot better than my life living on the streets.

Though I wondered, quite regularly, what my past held. Who was I before Takara? Did I have a family? Did I have parents and maybe a sibling or two? Where was I from? Have I always lived in Amegakure, or am I from another village? These thoughts plagued me almost every day now that I had time to focus on things other than survival.

Today, however, was a special day. It was the first day of my physical training and I was meeting Tobi-san in the training grounds underneath the building. When I got there, he was waiting for me. He looked board, at least, his posture dictated as much. I couldn't say if his face had the same expression, considering he wore a cream-coloured mask with black designs on it.

"You're here, and right on time too, little one," he stated simply, looking me up and down.

I wore a deep-grey singlet top with matching shorts and shinobi sandals. My shoulder-length blonde hair was tied up in a short, messy ponytail and I wore a light-grey jacket with a fur-lined hood over my singlet top. I was ready for training, no matter what it entails.

"Konan-san showed me where this place was yesterday," I replied, having lost my stutter thanks to my tutors.

Tobi-san nodded. "We won't do anything too strenuous today. You're only just starting after all. But trust me, soon you will hate me for this training."

"Will you be the only one training me?"

"When you get stronger, Konan and Nagato will also train you."

I nodded as I shuffled my feet on the ground. "So, what are we doing today?"

"Excited, are we?" Tobi-san questioned and I shrugged in response. "We'll start with warm up stretches. The last thing we need is for you to break something. Copy me and try to keep up."

After half-an-hour of a variety of stretches (with most of that time being Tobi-san correcting my posture) we moved on to warm up drills. It started with five laps around the room, then five push-ups, followed by five sit-ups, and five star-jumps.

Once that was done, he started running me through some Taijutsu drills – after explaining to me what Taijutsu was. We practiced them for a further hour before he was happy with my stance and posture and the power behind my punches, kicks, elbows, and blocks. By this time, I was sweating and had taken my jacket off. It was crumpled in a heap on the floor near the door.

"Good job. Last lesson for today is to start you practicing the hand signs for jutsu's. Without them you can't perform Genjutsu or Ninjutsu," Tobi-san explained and he started showing me all twelve hand signs, slowly, one after the other. "Now then, copy after me."

I copied him and for the next half-hour we worked on the hand signs. It was hard to form my hands properly, but Tobi-san assured me that once I get used to it I could do it with my eyes closed.

"Good," Tobi-san said as we finished up the last of the hand signs. "You have your other lessons tomorrow, but we'll meet back here the day after. Also, make sure you practice your Taijutsu drills and the hand signs every chance you get. I don't want to be on the basics for too long. We have a lot to cover if you are to be the strongest. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Tobi-sensei."

"Hmm, sensei? I never thought I'd hear that directed at me," Tobi-sensei mused.

"You're my teacher, are you not? That makes you my sensei," I replied and Tobi-sensei nodded in agreement.

"That's right. I never thought of that," he stated and started to leave the room. "Remember what I said. I will see you in two days' time."

He left the room and I collapsed onto the floor. I wasn't panting like I was after the drills, but I was still exhausted. All I wanted to do was sleep for five or ten years. Maybe a hundred if I was going to be honest with myself.

I shook my head and forced myself up, grabbing my jacket and bottle of water that I brought with me before leaving the training room to the bathroom next to my bedroom. I believe a shower is in order after the training session I just went through.

**...**

It was the first day of the year, my self-proclaimed birthday. I didn't know my real birthday, but I figured I'd turn nine somewhere in the year, so why not take the 1st of January as my birthday?

I have been here for almost a year, and I knew the village called me Gods Treasure. I still haven't figured out what the experiment did to me, and Tobi-sensei seemed to be getting impatient for the fruits of his labour to show. Either way, I have caught up with others in my age group in terms of general knowledge about the world, reading and writing, and mathematics, though I still saw my tutors three times a week.

No one in the building knew I had a self-proclaimed birthday, so I was spending it resting up from all the training I've been doing in the last year. Tobi-sensei, and Pein-sama, and Konan-san have all decided to give me two weeks off for the new year. This was week two, and in three days I would be back on my rigorous schedule of studying and training.

I was sitting down near the top of the building, legs hanging over the side of open window frame and looking out at Amegakure. It was raining. Though what else is new? And it was cold. Just as cold as it had been when I first arrived in this building with Tobi-sensei. But now, I was wearing a thick winter kimono with a fur wrap around my shoulders. Not a thin hoodie with equally as thin pants.

"You seem pensive," Konan-san stated as she walked up behind me.

"Just thinking back on the last year. I know I have a break, but I am restless," I replied, turning my head to look over my shoulder, my blonde hair now falling to my chest unlike when I first arrived where it had fallen to just above my shoulders.

"When you get used to training, not doing so makes you feel like you're missing something," Konan-san agreed.

I nodded in agreement to her words, turning back to look over the village. "I had decided last year that today would be my birthday. I don't know my real birthday, so I decided to choose the first day of the year as my birthday instead."

"You're birthday? I haven't celebrated mine in many years, neither has Nagato or Tobi," Konan-san stated. "Do you want to celebrate yours?"

I shook my head. "No. I just thought you'd like to know when I think I turn another year older. Keep your records up to date and all that."

"I see," Konan-san replied. "I will go and inform Nagato of this development. I suspect the village may learn of this eventually and make a holiday out of it. Being Gods Treasure, you are important to them."

"They don't even know _why_ I'm here," I replied.

"And do you?"

I frowned, turning to face Konan-san. "No. I know I'm a successful experiment. But I don't know what the experiment did to me. I believe Tobi-sensei is getting sick of waiting for it to reveal itself. Whatever _it_ is."

"You've only learned the basics last year. When you start training again in a few days, you will be subjected to learning your chakra nature and any jutsu that involve that nature. With luck, it will reveal some of the abilities that the experiment will give you," Konan-san explained before turning around and walking away.

I turned back to the window, facing the village as I thought about her words. So, my abilities will have to do with my chakra nature. I wondered what else the experiment did to me.

**...**

I stood in the training room, a frown on my face. Tobi-sensei has yet to arrive. He was late. And not just by a few minutes, but by almost an hour. He had never been late before, and it made me worry that something was wrong.

Just as I thought that, he walked through the door. I could sense annoyance rolling off him in waves and I stiffened, watching as he walked straight up to me and pulled out a piece of paper from his cloak.

"This is chakra paper. Put your chakra in it and it will reveal your nature type. If it splits in half – wind, if it crinkles – lightning, if it fades into dust – earth, if it burns – fire, and if it soaks – water. If the experiment worked properly you should have at least _three_ chakra natures. If it didn't, well, you may just end up back on the streets. Do you understand, little one?" Tobi-sensei questioned and I nodded, taking the piece of paper as he handed it to me.

I wasted no time in pushing my chakra into the paper and watched in amazement as the paper soaked in one corner, burnt in the other, and crumbled into dust at the bottom. Three chakra natures. Hopefully they were the ones Tobi-sensei wanted.

He nodded. "Just as I hoped for. It seems you have the natures the experiment should've given you. Though I wonder what your original nature was. Most likely one of three that was already here, otherwise you would've had a fourth nature appear on the paper."

I nodded and dropped the paper onto the floor.

"Now, you already know the three Academy jutsu – substitution, clone, and transformation. Now I'll be teaching you some elemental jutsu. Starting with the Fireball jutsu. We can't do it in here, so follow me," Tobi-sensei ordered and I followed him back through the tower and outside.

As we walked the streets of the village, people bowed to me and eyed Tobi-sensei wearily before we arrived at a training ground with a large lake in the middle of it on the outskirts of the village.

"This is where we'll train your elemental jutsu's. You are allowed out here whenever you have free time to practice. But go no further. You're also to go straight here and back, not stopping for anything. Nagato will know if you do," Tobi-sensei warned and I nodded, excitement filling me.

I was allowed out of the building _alone._ Sure, I was limited on where I could go, but still, it was better than being cooped up all day. I knew I'd be spending almost all my free time here, and I didn't mind it one bit.

"Now then, I'll run you through the fireball jutsu," Tobi-sensei stated and he went through the hand-signs, quickly showing me the jutsu then going through it again slowly. I watched with avid interest before it was my turn.

I did as instructed and created a small fireball.

"Hmm, not bad for a first attempt. Keep practicing," Tobi-sensei ordered and I kept going for the rest of the hour. By the time the hour was up, I was able to produce a medium-sized fireball and Tobi-sensei seemed pleased with my progress. "I have things I need to do. You may stay out here to train or return to the headquarters. It's your choice. But remember what I told you. Don't go past this point and don't stop on your way here or way back unless you absolutely have to."

With that said he vanished and I sighed, contemplating going back to headquarters before deciding to keep practicing on the jutsu.

**...**

It's been a month since I started on elemental ninjutsu, and I was in the training field on a Sunday, my day off training in everything I've learnt so far. I was taking a rest from a round of Taijutsu drills when I heard a twig snap. I shot up and got in a fighting stance.

"Whose there! Show yourself!" I ordered.

"Hey, I'm not a threat," a male voice said as he revealed himself from behind a tree.

I studied the boy. He was around my age with brown hair, fair skin, and brown eyes. I could sense the chakra coming off him and I knew he was training to be a shinobi.

"Who are you?" I questioned and he shot me a grin.

"I'm Chuza Ena. And you're Gods Treasure, right?" he questioned and I nodded.

"My name is Takara," I replied and he grinned.

"It's a nice name," he replied and I nodded again, watching him wearily, wondering what he was doing here. "I've noticed you've been training out here by yourself often, and I wondered if you wanted a sparring partner? You can't know your skills unless you fight against someone else."

I paused. He had a point. I only ever fought against Tobi-sensei, and he went easy on me to make sure I got better. Fighting someone my own age, who won't go easy on me, might be a good change of pace. I nodded and got into a fighting stance.

"You want to spar now?" he questioned in surprise and I nodded again.

"Are you up for it?" I questioned and he grinned and got into a fighting stance.

After a couple of seconds, I shot forward, aiming a punch towards his face. He dodged it, shooting his hand out to hit me in the stomach. I let the blow hit, not even flinching as I used his momentum to my advantage, grabbing his arm and flipping him over my right shoulder. He shouted in surprise but managed to land in a crouch.

I spun around to face him, not giving him a chance to escape as I rushed forward, bringing my knee up into his stomach, making him double over in pain as I grabbed him and pinned him to the ground, my knees on his stomach with my hands pinning his above his head.

"Wow, you're good. To be expected from Gods Treasure," he stated, panting.

I nodded and stood up, helping him up. "You weren't bad yourself."

"I'd hope not. I'm the best in my class, but you, you're on another level," he stated with a grin. "Can we spar again? You might be the best chance I have of improving my skills in combat. My classmates don't offer much resistance when I spar them."

I thought about it for a second before giving him a shy smile. "Sure, I'd like that."

He grinned. "We'll meet here every Sunday then and train. I learn from you; you learn from me. We'll be unstoppable when we're older!" he cheered and I smile before nodding as he ran off.

I turned back to my elemental ninjutsu training then. Excited for next Sunday. Did I just make my first ever friend?

**...**

Two months passed and I met with Ena every Sunday. We trained and sparred together and we became close. It was nice having a friend and knowing someone my own age. I learnt that his parents were also shinobi, but they had only ever made it to chunin before dying on two separate missions a few months back.

I was waiting for Ena at the training ground, doing some warmup stretches. He was a little bit late, but that was usual with him, so I wasn't too worried. I was doing some laps when he arrived, a big grin on his face.

"Hey, Takara-chan. Sorry I'm late, I had to run an errand for my grandmother," he explained as he ran up to me.

I smiled. "Its fine. I don't mind. How about you warm up?"

He went to nod but froze as his gaze looked behind me. I frowned, turning around and freezing as I saw Tobi-sensei standing there, his arms crossed against his chest.

"Takara, who is this?" he questioned and I flinched.

Tobi-sensei never called me Takara. It was always 'little one'. He was mad. But why?

"This is Chuza Ena. He's my friend and sparring partner," I replied wearily and Tobi-sensei tilted his head.

"Friend?" he sounded the word out, almost as if it was a foreign concept to him. "I see. And did I say you could be friends with people?"

I frowned. "You never said I couldn't."

He hummed and disappeared. I heard a gasp behind me and I spun around, staring in surprise as I saw Tobi-sensei holding Ena by the throat and up in the air.

"That will have to change," Tobi stated.

"T-Tobi-sensei come on. He's just helping me train. I get stronger every time I train with him!" I argued and Tobi-sensei's grip tightened as fear built up inside of me at seeing my friend being threatened by my teacher.

"He's a distraction. You have me to spar with, or have you forgotten?" Tobi-sensei questioned with a growl and I whimpered.

"I haven't. But I t-thought sparring with s-someone else would m-make me a better shi-shinobi," I stuttered out and he tilted his head to the side, a sign that he was thinking over my words.

"You have a point, but you shouldn't be training with someone I haven't said you could train with," Tobi-sensei stated and his hand tightened even further on Ena's neck and I watched as he groaned before falling limp.

"Ena!" I shouted as I felt my chakra flare and pain in my eyes, my world becoming suddenly clearer and I rushed towards Tobi-sensei preparing to hit him.

He chuckled and dropped Ena on the ground, grabbing my fist in his hand and pulling me towards him, him leaning down to match my sight so he could look me deep in the eyes.

"Well, well, stage two of the experiment has worked. I didn't think it would, but here we are with living proof," he stated as I whimpered and he let me go. "Come, little one, we have much to discuss."

Tears were streaming down my face as I looked down at the pale Ena. I hesitated briefly before following Tobi-sensei through the village quickly and into the tower and up to Pein-sama's office. Tobi-sensei marched in without knocking and Pein-sama shot him a glare before his ringed gaze fell on me, his eyes widening as he met mine.

"You were right, Nagato. She _was_ meeting someone at the training field. But it turned out alright in the end. As you can see, she activated her Sharingan," Tobi-sensei stated and I frowned, having no idea what that was.

"Will you be upping her training then?" Konan-san questioned from next to Pein-sama and Tobi-sensei nodded.

"Yes. She needs to learn to control it, and maybe even get it fully developed as soon as possible. Now all we need to discover is if she can combine her water and earth chakra natures or not," Tobi-sensei stated.

"Um, T-Tobi-sensei?" I called and his gaze fell to me. "W-will I be able t-too still meet E-Ena?" I asked.

"Ena?" Konan-san questioned.

"The little brat she was 'training' with," Tobi-sensei muttered and I flinched.

"He's the t-top student in his c-class at the A-Academy," I tried to reason.

"What's his full name?" Pein-sama questioned.

"Chuza Ena," I replied and he nodded.

"He is one of the most promising students at the academy," Pein-sama stated. "It would be a shame to lose him. But it's your call, Tobi."

Tobi-sensei chuckled. "I'll let you still see him. And train with him every Sunday as you have been doing. But don't put him before your training."

I nodded, smiling shyly. "Thank you, Tobi-sensei."

"Now run along little one, I have to make up a new training schedule for you," Tobi-sensei stated and I nodded and left the room, feeling the three adults gaze on my back but not minding it so much. I still had my friend, and Tobi-sensei wasn't mad at me anymore. Things were looking up.

**...**

I arrived back to the training ground to see Ena still collapsed on the ground. I rushed over to him and knelt, checking his pulse before pulling him underneath a tree to protect him more from the rain that pelted down around us. He groaned and his brown eyes opened slowly, meeting my green ones before widening and he shot up.

"That man! Where is he?" he questioned sitting up and looking around frantically.

"He's gone," I replied and Ena turned to face me.

"Was he your Dad?"

I gaped at him, shaking my head firmly. "No, of course not. He's my teacher," I replied.

"He doesn't like me."

"He doesn't like anyone."

"Are you allowed to even be here?"

I shrugged. "He said we could still be friends. As long as you don't interfere with my training."

Ena nodded, looking around wearily. "I won't. Are you alright though? He seemed _really_ mad about us training together."

"I'm fine. The worst he would've done is probably lock me in the tower," I replied with a shrug before tilting my head to the side. "And made training worse for me."

"He was going to kill me," Ena pointed out and I frowned.

"I wouldn't let that happen. You're my first friend, I would rather never see you again than know you died," I replied and Ena gave me a smile, pulling me into a hug.

"Same. I guess we have a bit of a messed-up friendship, ne?"

I laughed and nodded against his shoulder, returning his hug. "Yeah."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

A few months passed since the incident, and I still regularly met with Ena, though Tobi-sensei had upped my training to be even harder than before and I was constantly tired. The New Year break came and went and I was now training with my Sharingan more and more. It now developing into two tomoe instead of just one in each eye.

I had learnt all about the Sharingan on my first training day after the incident. I leant that I gained it through an experiment that somehow altered my genes to contain the bloodline limit. Tobi-sensei also told me there was another bloodline limit in the experiment, but if I didn't activate it, he wouldn't be too depressed as having the Sharingan was great progress.

And it really was. With the Sharingan I learn jutsu's at a faster rate and my sparring was getting better and better. I was now also training with Konan-sensei, learning the more subtle side of the shinobi arts.

She also taught me about something very important – puberty. I didn't like the sound of it, but now that I was ten, it could start any day now and she wanted me to be prepared for the side effects. They sounded like utter shit, but I didn't voice that around Konan-sensei. She didn't like it when I swore.

Today I was sitting in class – and by class, I mean in a room in the tower with my tutor – being instructed on the history of the Land of Fire and Konohagakure. I found it boring, as somehow, I seemed to already know a fair bit about it. Don't know why, maybe I was taught about it by my unknown parents before my memories vanished? Who knows?

The class was coming to an end when the door opened and Tobi-sensei walked in like he owned the place. Which – if I'm going to be honest – he kind of did. I'm not sure how it works exactly, but somehow Tobi-sensei was in charge around here, not Pein-sama. Though I didn't tell Pein-sama that.

"Are you done for the day?" Tobi-sensei asked my tutor who nodded and Tobi-sensei waved him off, leaving me in the room alone with Tobi-sensei. "There is someone I'd like you to meet. You will be training with him as well as me and Konan from now on."

I nodded; interest suddenly picked. Someone new? I knew that Pein-sama, Konan-sensei, and Tobi-sensei were part of an organisation called Akatsuki and that there were a few other people as well, but I never actually met any of them. They were always at various locations across the shinobi world, doing whatever it was that they were assigned to do by Pein-sama.

I followed Tobi-sensei through the halls and to the ground floor where I saw a guy, not much older than me – maybe around sixteen? – waiting for us. He had long, dark hair, fair skin, and onyx eyes. When his gaze met mine, they narrowed and I watched as his Sharingan activated. A Uchiha then?

I activated my Sharingan on instinct and his eyes widened in surprise as we stood in front of each other, eyeing each other off.

Tobi-sensei cleared his throat. "Itachi, this is Takara. Takara, this is Uchiha Itachi. He will be training with you for few months."

"How does she have the Sharingan?" Itachi-san questioned Tobi-sensei, looking at me in interest.

"An experiment. She also has three chakra natures, and with luck, another bloodline limit. She was the only one to survive the experiment," Tobi-sensei replied. "In the village she is known as Gods Treasure. Why don't you two go to the training grounds and get to know each other?"

Itachi-san and I both nodded and I bowed to him.

"Do you know where the training grounds are located, Itachi-san?" I asked him and he shook his head and I nodded, turning to walk out the door. "Follow me then. I will show you the way."

Itachi-san nodded and I lead him out into the rain. As we walked through the village the people who noticed me bowed to me and I nodded back to them, acknowledging them, though I didn't understand why they respected me as much as they did. They didn't even know me. All they knew me as was Gods Treasure.

Soon we arrived at the training ground I always trained in, surprised to see some people already there training. When they saw us, they stopped and studied me for a minute before their eyes widened.

"Gods Treasure," the eldest in the group bowed. "Do you wish to train here?"

I nodded. "But if you are training, we can go somewhere else."

"No, its fine. We were just finishing up. Do you mind waiting ten minutes?" he questioned and I looked to Itachi-san who nodded and I gave a shy smile to the group. Nodding in agreement and they smiled back, turning back to training where they were doing cool-down stretches.

After ten minutes they left and Itachi-san and I walked into the centre of the training ground. I stretched my arms and legs, jumping up and down to loosen up as Itachi-san stood there, eyeing me wearily. I shot him a shy smile and got into a fighting stance, Itachi-san copying me. Some lightning flashed and I shot forward.

I aimed a kick to Itachi-san's stomach, only for him to easily dodge. He returned the favour and I deflected the blow with my hands, before twisting to the side to avoid a jab to my abdomen. We traded blows, him hitting me a few times and me missing him and never landing a blow before we separated and I activated my Sharingan. He activated his and we went back into a Taijutsu battle. It was harder than it had been, even with my Sharingan activated as he was more trained in his.

Soon I separated from him and weaved the signs for the fireball jutsu. I summoned the jutsu and aimed it at him. He weaved some signs and the rain around us transformed into a wall of water, making mist fill up the training ground. This would've normally been a problem, but with the Sharingan the mist was little more than a nuisance.

I dodged some shuriken thrown at me before throwing a few kunai back in the general direction. I heard a grunt, knowing that I had hit him with the kunai and ran forward, hoping to engage him in a Taijutsu battle again. As if sensing me approaching, he dodged my attack and we moved back into a Taijutsu battle.

After a few more minutes of non-stop fighting I found myself starting to slow down. Itachi-san aimed a punch to my face. I didn't have time to block or dodge and I was sent flying back, pain going through my face as I landed on the ground. Itachi-san jumped on top of me, holding a kunai to my neck. Like me, he was panting, but unlike me, he didn't look as tired.

I sighed and deactivated my Sharingan. "I guess you win, Itachi-san."

Itachi-san got off me and helped me up. "You are very good for your age, Takara-san. I'm impressed."

I smiled shyly and nodded. "You were amazing, Itachi-san. I don't know anything about you, but you must've been a strong shinobi from whichever village you came from."

He frowned. "I'm from Konohagakure. Like all Uchiha's."

I looked at him surprise. "I heard of the Uchiha Clan in Konohagakure. They were massacred, weren't they? Leaving only one survivor? You're here, that means you're either that survivor, or the one who did the massacring."

Itachi-san closed his eyes, looking away. "That was two years ago now. I did it to test my strength, leaving my little brother alive."

I frowned. "Test your strength, you say? Why didn't you kill your brother as well then? I'm not going to pry, I never will, but something doesn't sit right with me when it comes to your reasoning for destroying your clan."

I turned around and started to walk off. "Can you find your way back to the tower?" I asked him, looking over my shoulder.

Itachi-san nodded and I left, pretending I didn't see the tears welling up in his eyes.

I panted as I collapse onto the ground, lying there staring up at the cloudy sky as rain pelted down onto me in sharp blurs. Itachi-sensei stood above me; arms crossed as he watches me recover from our latest spar. It was a month since I met Itachi-sensei, and we sparred once a week. Sometimes Tobi-sensei, Konan-sensei, or Pein-sama watched us, other times it was just us two by ourselves.

"You're improving. You lasted three minutes longer than you did last week," Itachi-sensei stated and I nodded, not having enough air in my lungs to respond to his statement. "Tobi wants me to train you in shuriken jutsu. He acknowledges that I'm better at him at it."

I groaned as I pushed myself up. "I'm horrible at shuriken. Why can't I just keep using kunai?"

"Because you might run out of them, and then what? You'll be defenceless," Itachi-sensei stated and I frowned at his (good) reasoning.

"I'd still have my Taijutsu and Ninjutsu," I tried and Itachi-sensei raised an eyebrow at me, amusement shining in his onyx eyes.

"Yes, but what if you're low on chakra and you need to get your target from a distance? It's always best to be prepared for the worst, Takara-san," Itachi-sensei replied and I groaned, flopping back into the mud, knowing that he was right. Like usual.

"I don't see much training going on."

I sat up and turned to face Tobi-sensei, who leant against a tree nearby. I shot to my feet and gave him a bow. "Tobi-sensei, we were just taking a break. We were about to start on shuriken jutsu."

"Were you now?" Tobi-sensei questioned, tilting his head to the side slightly. "If that is the case, I want to see how well you teach, Itachi-kun."

Itachi-sensei frowned but nodded as he led me to the targets set up. "We'll start with the basics. Hit these targets at the same time. Aim for the centre."

I nodded and pulled out my shuriken, getting into the stance that has been taught to me and throwing all eight shuriken at the same time towards the eight-separate targets. Most hit the targets, three got the centre, and two missed completely. I turned to look at Itachi-sensei, who had a calculating look on his face.

"Your stance isn't bad, but it's not perfect either. Get into your stance again," Itachi-sensei ordered and I did as instructed. Itachi-sensei walked up to me and adjusted my stance a little bit. The adjusting made me feel a bit strange and out of sorts, but I didn't question him. "Try now." He ordered as he stepped back.

I took a deep breath in before letting it out, throwing the shuriken at the targets. Sure enough, with the adjusted stance, all of them hit the targets, with five getting in the centre. I stared in surprise at the end result.

"What the–?" I trailed off as I turned to face Itachi-sensei, a smile on my face. "How did you pick it up so quickly? What I was doing wrong? Even Tobi-sensei had trouble picking that up."

Tobi-sensei grunted, shuffling his feet to the side as I could feel his glare resting on me.

"I trained my brother a couple of times. I learnt to spot the slightest changes," Itachi-sensei stated as he eyed Tobi-sensei wearily. "I want you to keep hitting the targets. Try to get all of them in the centre by the end of today's training session."

I nodded and got back into the stance, adjusting it to fit what Itachi-sensei had shown me and threw the shuriken. I did this over and over, improving a little bit more each time until I was out of shuriken. I looked at the targets, happiness filling me as I realised, I had hit the centre on all of them the last three times.

"Get her practicing throwing and hitting moving targets next training session," Tobi-sensei ordered Itachi-sensei before he vanished and I relaxed.

"You did well, Takara-san," Itachi-sensei stated and I shot him a smile.

"Takara-chan," I stated and he looked at me in surprise. "That is, if you want, Itachi-sensei."

Itachi gave me a small smile. "Then call me Itachi."

"Itachi-kun?"

He chuckled but nodded and he helped me clean up all the shuriken before we made our way back to the tower.

I was resting up later on in the week in the training field with Ena. We were sitting against a tree, which kept most of the rain out, eating some bento's he's grandmother had made for us. We were laughing about something that had happened at the Academy recently when Itachi-kun arrived.

"Itachi-kun!" I announced with a grin as I got up and ran into the rain, giving him a bow. "Come and meet my friend."

Itachi-kun grunted but followed me to the tree, where Ena now stood, looking at Itachi-kun in interest.

"Ena, this is Uchiha Itachi. Itachi-kun, this Chuza Ena, my best friend," I introduced them and Ena stiffened as he eyed the Uchiha in awe.

"Y-you're an Uchiha? Like an actual Uchiha? I heard about that clan, but I thought they were all killed off. I guess that was just a rumour," Ena stated and Itachi-kun stiffened, making me frown.

"Oh no, it did happen. Itachi-kun doesn't like to talk about it. It's a no-go topic, ok Ena?" I explained and Ena blushed, nodding his head furiously at my words.

"O-of course. My apologies, Uchiha-san. That was inconsiderate of me," Ena stuttered out, bowing to Itachi-kun to show that he was genuinely sorry for his manners. "You're not going to try and kill me like that Tobi guy did, will you?" Ena added, standing up and now eyeing Itachi-kun wearily.

Itachi-kun raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Tobi tried to kill you?"

Ena nodded. "When Takara and I first started hanging out, Tobi wasn't impressed and tried to kill me."

"That was when I activated my Sharingan," I added and Itachi-kun nodded, his face turning back to the usual blank features it usually held.

"No. I won't try to kill you," Itachi-kun replied to Ena's earlier questioned.

"That's a relief. Wouldn't want two people after me before I become a full-fledged shinobi," Ena stated, rubbing the back of his head with his eyes shut and a wide grin on his face.

"Um, that reminds me. Itachi-kun, what brings you here?" I questioned, turning back to Itachi-kun with a raised eyebrow.

"I was looking for you. Tobi wants me to train you with the Sharingan today," Itachi-kun replied and I frowned.

"But today is supposed to be my day off," I pouted out and Itachi-kun shrugged.

"Do you really want to go against Tobi right now?" Itachi-kun questioned and I shivered in fear, shaking my head frantically. Only an idiot would go against Tobi-sensei at my level of training. I'm not even sure if Itachi-kun could win a fight with Tobi-sensei. At least, not yet, anyway.

"It's fine, Takara, we'll meet up again soon," Ena stated and gave me hug before walking off after packing up the bento's, whistling as he went.

I turned back to Itachi-kun. "Ok, let's get training then, shall we?"


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

A few months passed and the new school year was beginning. Usually this wouldn't matter to me – or to Tobi-sensei – but this year it was decided for me to join others my age to broaden my skills and to learn how to work in situations that call for teamwork. It was a skill that even Tobi-sensei said was vital for the mission he was going to give me.

I was eleven, making me younger than everyone in the final year at the Academy. But my skills were beyond theirs, and I was only here to learn teamwork. Apparently, next year I would be given a mission – my first mission – and I needed to be able to blend in with others my own age.

I arrived at the Academy early. Tobi-sensei led me through the halls of the building and soon we arrived at classroom 6A. It was the only graduating class, and even then, most of the students in the class will either fail the graduation or genin tests, or not make it past their first year as a shinobi. It was a cruel world indeed.

Tobi-sensei stopped in front of the door, turning to face me. "Remember the reason you're here, little one. And it's _not_ to make friends. You don't need any more friends outside of Ena."

I nodded and Tobi-sensei slid the door to the classroom open, making the chatter die out as the students in the room stopped to see the strange, masked man with a short girl standing behind him. The teacher, who had been sitting at her desk reading the class syllabus looked up, her glasses shining in the light. Her blue eyes widened when she saw the masked man.

"Can I help you, sir?" she stood up, prepared for a fight if necessary.

"I have brought you your newest student. I believe God informed you that she would be arriving today," Tobi stated and the woman's eyes widened as he stepped aside to reveal me.

"Oh my, it's God's Treasure," the woman gasped out before giving me a bow, my classmates following quickly. "I didn't realise _you_ would be joining us. Please, come here and introduce yourself to your classmates."

I nodded and Tobi-sensei nodded to me, before disappearing. I walked to the front of the class, just as the bell rang for class to begin and bowed. "My name is Takara. Please look favourably upon me."

"Welcome, Takara-san. I am Domon Akina, please take a seat and we will begin todays lesson," the woman introduced herself properly to me, and I nodded, walking to a seat near the front, slightly left of the middle. Domon-sensei paused before beginning todays lesson, going over the syllabus for the year before starting with the theory behind chakra.

A few hours later, I stood in the training grounds of the Academy with my classmates. Domon-sensei was calling us up to spar, and I watched everyone carefully, noting the ones who had the most potential.

"Takara, you're up against Botan. Please remember, you're only to use Taijutsu," Domon-sensei explained and I nodded, stepping up as a large, bulky male with olive skin and black hair stepped into the centre of the sparring circle.

He eyed me with disdain before snorting. "Do I really have to fight a girl? She's so... scrawny."

There were gasps throughout the area as he disrespected me. No one knew much about me, but what they did know was that I was Pein-sama's ward and – somehow – that led them to believe that disrespecting me means your disrespecting God.

"I can handle myself," I replied, getting into a fighting stance with my fists raised and legs shoulder width apart, one behind the other and the heel slightly raised.

Botan scoffed but got prepared. Once Domon-sensei said so, we began the spar. He charged at me, raising a fist that I easily dodge. Using his momentum against him, I used my palms to move him towards the edge of the circle. He managed to regain his balance in time. I didn't give him a chance to attack me again, and shot forward, kicking him in the shin and landing an uppercut to his chin. This shot him backwards out of the circle and onto the muddy ground.

"Takara-san wins!" Domon-sensei announced and there where whispers amongst my classmates as I walked up to a groaning Botan. I knelt down and held out a hand, making him look at me in confusion.

I shot him a shy smile. "I thought you could use some help getting up. I also wanted to make sure there were no hard feelings about me winning."

Botan eyed me before scoffing and slapping my hand away, pushing himself up and storming off to a crowd of boys, all of whom were watching our interaction wearily. I frowned, but stood up, following my classmates and Domon-sensei back into the classroom. It turns out, making friends was going to be harder than I thought.

Three months have passed and most of my classmates were civil towards me, but they never made a move to become close. It actually saddened me. I spent my lunchtimes with Ena and his friends – they were in the class below ours but we shared lunch together. His friends didn't really trust me, but Ena, he treated me the same as always.

Because we spent more time together, we became closer and I've started to develop a crush on him. I didn't tell anyone. I mean, who could I tell? Itachi-kun was gone now with his teammate on missions for the Akatsuki, and whilst Konan-sensei taught me about puberty and relationships, she's wasn't exactly the type you could go to for advice.

Plus, who knew how'd Tobi-sensei – or even Pein-sama – would react if they found out. I'd probably be taken out of the Academy and locked up in the tower again. I was hanging with Ena in our usual spot at lunch. His friends were hanging out in a different area when Ena grabbed my hand and turned me to face him.

"Takara, I have to tell you something," Ena stated and I looked at him in confusion, wondering why he was so nervous and why he was red as a tomato.

"What is it, Ena? You can tell me. I won't judge," I replied and Ena shot me a shy smile.

"I-I like you. A lot. More than just friends. I understand if you don't like me back, but I just wanted you to know," Ena stated, his blushing getting worse.

I too started blushing at his confession. Ena? He liked me as a potential girlfriend. I felt my heartbeat increase as excitement bubbled in me. I let out a wide grin and tackled him onto the ground. "I-I like you too, Ena. I didn't want to say anything because I didn't want to make things awkward between us."

Ena grinned and went to say something when I felt a familiar chakra flare and Tobi-sensei appeared behind Ena. My eyes widened in fear as Tobi-sensei grabbed Ena by the throat, picking him up. My classmates and the other Academy students all stopped, staring in shock at the masked man who was letting off killing intent in waves.

"What did I say about making bonds?" Tobi-sensei growled out and I watched as the teachers all came running out, all freezing as they saw Tobi-sensei and flinching back.

"You said I could be friends with Ena!" I argued, standing up as my heartbeat raced in fear. Something in me told me that this was _not_ going to end well. For anyone.

"The keyword in that sentence is _friends._ But you, you just confessed to him. And he to you," Tobi-sensei stated, his voice calm but I could hear the underlying anger beneath it.

"Sir, you do not have permission to be here!" one of the teachers ordered and Tobi-sensei grabbed a kunai, throwing it at the teacher, piercing him right between the eyes, making the students all shout in shock.

"Leave!" Tobi-sensei ordered and all the kids ran away as the teachers ushered them as far from the scenario as possible. "You. You can't have such a bond. Not with _anyone!_"

I growled, activating my Sharingan, glaring at Tobi-sensei. "Why not? What's so bad about having a crush or being in a relationship with someone? I'm eleven, not seven! I should be allowed to experiment with my feelings!" I shouted out and Tobi-sensei threw Ena onto the floor, making Ena cough up blood as a crack appeared on the floor below him.

"Are you challenging me, Takara? You know that won't end well for you," Tobi-sensei warned and I spat at the ground, charging towards him, raising my fist.

I aimed a punch towards his chest, only for him to grabbed my fist and squeezing it tightly. I shouted in pain as he cracked the bones in my fist before he pushed me away, onto the floor next to Ena.

"Don't test my patience, Takara. From now on, you won't be allowed to leave the tower without someone escorting you. You won't be allowed to attend the Academy, and you will be training until you collapse every day of the week," Tobi snapped and I felt tears in my eyes as I cradled my hand, looking down at Ena who was slowly recovering from the throw.

I crawled to Ena and put his head in my lap. He groaned and looked at me, giving me a sad, pained smile. He raised a hand and put it on my cheek.

"I'm fine, Takara," he whispered.

"Takara come with me. Now!" Tobi-sensei ordered, his back to me and I stiffened.

"Don't let him tell you what to do. You're your own person," Ena whispered and I felt anger and hatred burn in my chest.

"No," I muttered, and Tobi-sensei spun around.

"What?" he snapped.

I met Tobi-sensei's gaze. "I said no. I'm done. I don't want to be your experiment anymore! I'd rather be dead than listen to you!"

"Rather be dead?" Tobi-sensei muttered as he made quick steps towards us. "No. I worked too hard to get you to this level. It's this _boy_ that's twisting your mind. He has to go. I'll make it simple. I'll let you leave the tower whenever you want, _if_ you kill him right here right now."

My heart stopped at his words. Kill Ena? My best friend? I felt tears in my eyes. "No. I won't do it!"

Tobi chuckled and pulled out a kunai. Before I had time to act, he threw it and it pierced Ena right in the heart.

My eyes widened as Ena gasped.

"Ena!" I screamed as I tried to stop the bleeding, but I was pulled back by Tobi-sensei, who threw another kunai, this one piercing Ena right between the eyes, killing him.

Pain shot through me, landing on my eyes, but I didn't care as I screamed for Ena. I felt the familiar sensation of Tobi's teleportation and soon I found myself in my room in the tower. I tried to get away from Tobi, but he placed me on my futon as I cried and screamed in pain at the loss of my first – and best – friend.

"You bastard! I hate you! I hate you!" I screamed, as I grabbed a kunai and threw it at Tobi-sensei.

Tobi-sensei easily dodged and the door was slammed open, revealing both Konan-sensei and Pein-sama, both of whom were looking at us in surprise.

"Tobi, what happened?" Pein-sama snapped as Konan-sensei rushed over to me and tried to calm me down, but I just moved out of her reach and tried to attack the bastard before me.

"Chuza Ena is dead," Tobi stated and Pein-sama's eyes narrowed.

"What?"

"He confessed to Takara, and she confessed right back. She doesn't need bonds like that weakening her," Tobi growled out and looked at me as I phased right through him as I had tried to attack him whilst he was distracted with Pein-sama.

Tobi grabbed me by the arm and threw me back onto the bed.

"She'll hate you forever," Konan-sensei stated as she stopped me from lunging for Tobi.

Tobi scoffed. "She activated her Mangekyo Sharingan. She'll thank me when she learns what strength those eyes will give her."

I sobbed as I collapsed onto the futon. "I hate you. I'll never forgive you for what you've done. You're dead to me."

"Make sure she doesn't kill herself. It would be a shame to lose such a successful experiment," Tobi ordered before leaving, Pein-sama following him as Konan-sensei tried to calm me down.

I cried myself to sleep for the first time in my life that night. Getting nightmares of Ena's murder over and over again.

The next few weeks were painful. I was locked in my room, anything I could use to hurt myself were taken away from me. Tobi visited every other hour, trying to get me to listen to him. Each time he appeared; I would try to kill him. He would just sigh before leaving. Konan-sensei brought me my meals, and I spent my time planning my revenge against Tobi and sleeping.

My nights were horrible. I had nightmares of Ena's death, and I kept dreaming of a woman with long blonde hair and amber-brown eyes. I couldn't make out her features, but she often cuddled a younger version of me to her and hummed a tune. All I could see was her hair and eyes.

It's been a month, and I realised that if I ever want to get revenge against Tobi, I'd have to train harder than I ever had before. This time, when Tobi appeared in my room, I just looked over at him from over my shoulder as I sat in the window seat facing the village.

"What? No attack, little one?" Tobi questioned in a teasing tone.

I just scoffed, turning to face him fully. "I realise now it's pointless."

Tobi hummed, nodding his head in agreement. "Are you ready to start training again? Or do you want to be locked up in here all the time still?"

I sighed, looking back over the wet village. "You killed the one person I loved. It hurts. I have nightmares of it every time I sleep. I hate you for what you've done. And yet, I still want to prove to you that I'm strong. That the experiment wasn't wasted on me. What's wrong with me?" I let out a bitter laugh.

"It appears, little one, that's you've become almost dependent on me. I gave you a gift, and you subconsciously realise this fact. You want to prove yourself as a person, and as a shinobi. If you want to, we will start your training right now," Tobi replied and I stood up, nodding and he turned and unlocked the door with the key he carried around. "Let's go. You have a month of training to catch up on."

"Yes. Tobi-sensei."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

New Years has arrived. My birthday has passed and I was now twelve years old. But things were different. I was on my way to complete my first mission for Tobi. Or was it for the Akatsuki? I didn't know. Plus, I didn't care. Tobi was with me, leading the way to Konohagakure. The location of my mission.

As we got closer, I felt myself get tenser. I knew that this mission was dangerous. It was an infiltration mission that would last me for a long, long time. I was to gain the trust of Konohagakure, become a shinobi of the village, and locate the host of the nine tailed fox. Some boy named Uzumaki Naruto. He was – allegedly – my age, so we should be in the Academy together. That is, assuming, that the village lets me in and that I even get the chance to become a shinobi.

We were half an hour away from the village when Tobi stopped. I stopped and met his gaze through the mask. "It's time."

I nodded and Tobi attacked me. I let him hit me with almost full-powered hit, destroying my clothes and causing bruises to start to form all over my body. I grunted when he stopped and he nodded, I shot off towards the village as a group of bandits, hired by the Akatsuki chased after me.

I ran towards Konohagakure, going the speed of an average Academy student. I crashed into things, making loud noised and causing more wounds to appear. My waist length hair was falling out of its braid, but I didn't stop as the bandits attacked me with the intent to capture me. They had been given false orders and didn't know this was all fake. They thought that I escaped a slave trader and had orders to return me to him.

I could see Konohagakure's gates up ahead and slowed down, faking panting as I noticed some men sitting at the booth, both looking bored. Once I was close enough, I shouted for them to help me. They looked up, startled but when they saw me, and the bandits behind me, they raised the alarm and shinobi shot forward from around the gate as the gates were quickly shut.

I fake tripped onto the ground, letting the bandits catch up. Just as they were about to get me, the Konohagakure shinobi arrived and all hell broke loose. A female wearing a lower-face mask grabbed me and shot towards the village, two males guarding her back as I whimpered and clutched to her chest.

Quickly the bandits were either killed or captured and the gates were opened, letting us in as I was rushed towards the hospital. The medics were ready for me and they led us straight to a bed where they started to patch me up. The woman and two male shinobi that brought me here stayed and watched me wearily as I pretended to be scared of everything and everyone.

After an hour the medics left and the woman whispered something to the two men who nodded and left the room. I could still sense them standing outside my door, but I just sat in the hospital bed, tears dripping down my cheeks. To make it as realistic as possible, I was thinking of Ena's death. It was painful, but it worked and I kept sobbing in – what the shinobi thought was – fear.

Another hour passed before the door opened and I stared in awe as a man wearing the Hokage robes walked in. I figured he was the Third Hokage. I quickly ran through what I knew of him in my mind before pushing the thoughts aside. I whimpered as he came closer. He held up his hand in an attempt to comfort me and I pretended to relax just a little bit.

"Hello there. I'm the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen," the Third greeted me and I whimpered. "Do you have a name?"

"T-Takara," I stuttered out, gathering up memories of when I first arrived in Amegakure.

"No surname?"

I shook my head.

"The men that were chasing you, they were told that you escaped a slave ring. Is that correct?" he questioned as another man, this one with long blond hair, entered.

Now was the time to tell the lie that Tobi came up with for me. "I-is that w-what t-they s-said?" I whimpered and the Third tilted his head.

"Is that not what happened?" the blond-haired man questioned.

I shook my head. "I d-don't know. I g-guess it could b-be a s-slave ring. Do they t-teach slaves jutsu?" I questioned and the adults in the room all stiffened.

"Not generally, no," the Third replied and I frowned.

"I-I was experimented o-on. I never saw t-the person who d-did it. I was a-always blindfolded unless I-I was being trained to c-control my eyes," I stuttered out and this time the adults looked at each other in worry.

"Your eyes? What's wrong with them?" the blond man questioned and I bit my lip.

I looked around wearily before closing my eyes and sending chakra up to them. I activated my Sharingan and opened my eyes. The woman dropped the glass she had been sipping from, and the Hokage stared at me as if he'd seen a ghost as the blond-haired man stared at me in something akin to fear.

"She has the Sharingan. But she's not an Uchiha. Do you think she's one of _His_ experiments?" the blond-haired man questioned and the Hokage nodded.

"Is there anything else you can do?" the Hokage asked me and I shook my head as I deactivated my Sharingan. "How much of your life do you remember?"

"I was f-from Amegakure. I'm twelve. My birthday is the 1st of January. I had a best f-friend named E-Ena. He w-was k-killed r-right in front of me," I replied.

"This is Yamanaka Inoichi. He wants to go into your mind to confirm what you said. Is that alright?" the Hokage questioned and I nodded, praying that the mental training I had been through will work like Tobi hoped.

The blond-haired man – Yamanaka-san – walked up and did a jutsu. I didn't fight it and let him in, thinking back to Ena's death and my life on the streets of Amegakure and then the day I was taken by Tobi and experimented on, leaving out Pein-sama and Konan-sensei. I also thought of my training with Tobi. Yamanaka-san pulled out of my mind and nodded to the Hokage.

"She's been trained as a shinobi, but she's not officially a shinobi. What she said is true. She appears to have been from Amegakure. There are blanks in her memories. I suspect they are trauma blocks. No signs of _Him_ though, just a masked man. Maybe one of his lackeys?" Yamanaka-san explained to the Hokage who nodded.

"We will discuss what to do with you later, Takara-chan. How about you rest up for now? You're safe here," the Hokage explained and I nodded, leaning against the pillow of my bed and letting sleep take me, knowing that – for once in many years – I was free from Tobi's grasp.

A week later I was still in the hospital under guard. The Hokage visited every other day, along with Yamanaka-san just to make sure I was handling things well as the Hokage figured out what to do with me. It was exactly one week when the Hokage entered my room with a grandfatherly smile. He took a seat on the chair next to my bed before speaking.

"We have sorted things out. If you would like, we are happy to offer you a home here in the village. But there are conditions to your stay," the Hokage stated and I nodded, gesturing for him to keep going. "You will be under twenty-four-hour surveillance for the first year of being here. We have to make sure you're trustworthy and – in the long run – loyal to the village. Another thing is you will be living in a small apartment with a monthly allowance. Lastly, you will enter the Academy. When you graduate, you will lose your monthly allowance, and some of what you earn from your missions will go straight back to the village as a way to pay off what you spend before graduation."

I nodded in understanding. "That sounds fair."

The Hokage smiled then reached into his robes. I tensed up for a second, something that didn't go unnoticed by the elderly man, but he didn't do anything as he pulled out a sack and handed it to me. "This is your monthly allowance for this month. One of your guards will lead you to your apartment when you're ready to go. I've already signed you out of the hospital, so you can leave whenever."

I shot him a shy smile and nodded, standing up off the bed. "Will there be enough in there for me to get some fresh clothes?"

The Hokage grinned. "I put a little extra in just for this month to get you off the ground. If you have free time, you can take odd jobs around the village to earn extra money that won't have to go back to the village."

I smiled and nodded as he stood up.

"I'll be taking my leave now. If you ever need anything, my office is open," the Hokage offered and left.

I exited the room and saw an ANBU standing there waiting for me. I shot the ANBU a small smile. "Are you going to show me to my apartment?" I asked her and she nodded, turning and walking down the hall.

I followed her out of the hospital and through the village and to an apartment building. Inside, I could sense a strong chakra, making me frown. There was something wrong with the chakra. Did I already find my target? Tobi did say he would have a large amount of chakra and it would feel wrong.

The ANBU led me to a room on the third floor and handed me a key. I unlocked the door and entered the apartment, surprised at what I saw. There was a small genkan right as I walked in. I slipped my shoes off, setting them neatly before going further into the apartment to see a living area with a couch and empty bookshelf. At one end of the living room was a kitchen with a small wooden table big enough to sit four people. I moved further into the apartment, and down a hall to find a bathroom and then one bedroom that had a single bed with plain, cream-coloured sheets.

I was excited for the bed, as it wasn't a futon that I was used to, but one of those beds that were raised up off the ground a little bit. There was also a built-in wardrobe, a chest of drawers, and a desk. Nodding, I made my way back through my apartment, putting my shoes back on and leaving.

I could sense the ANBU following me as I made my way through the village, searching for a clothing store. Once I found one, I entered and quickly went about buying some clothes. I went with some everyday yukata for everyday use, some training clothes for when I go to the Academy and for when I train and – ultimately – ruin the clothing, and some underwear.

Once I paid for everything I went to a nearby bookstore and bought a cookbook. It was one thing I never learnt how to do. Now that I was living alone, I had to learn to cook to survive. I flipped through the book upon leaving, settling on an easy recipe for teriyaki chicken and decided that will be my dinner for the night. I made my way to the grocery store where I bought the needed ingredients, plus some instant ramen and breakfast foods, before heading home.

Once home I set everything up, putting the food and clothes away. I had a shower and then rested in the bath for a half an hour before getting dressed in a yukata and heading back into the living room. It wasn't time for dinner yet, but I had to marinade the chicken so, following the recipe, I made the marinade and cut up the chicken before putting it all in a bowl and covering it with cling wrap, putting it in the fridge to marinade for a few hours.

I contemplated what I was going to do now when there was a knock on my door. I frowned but made my way to the door, opening it to see a nervous looking blond boy with bright blue eyes and whisker-like markings on his cheeks.

"Can I help you?" I questioned, noting that he was the source of the chakra I could sense.

"Ah, h-hi. Old man Hokage told me you'd be moving in next to me, and suggested I offer to help you to the Academy for the first few days. I t-thought I should introduce myself first," the boy explained and I tilted my head.

_Old man Hokage?_ "Ah, that's very thoughtful of both him and you. I am Takara. And you are?"

The boy blushed as he met my gaze. "Uzumaki Naruto."

I stopped a smirk from flittering across my lips. _So, this was the nine tails container? Not what I was expecting._ I gave him a shy smile. "Nice to meet you, Naruto-san. Would you like to come in? I would love to get to know you if we are neighbours."

Naruto blushed but nodded as he entered my apartment. He took his shoes off, setting them neatly next to mine and walked in. He looked around briefly before taking a seat at the table. I shot him a small smile.

"Would you like a drink, Naruto-san?" I offered and he shook his head.

"N-no, that's fine," he replied and I nodded, sitting across from him.

"What's the Academy like?" I asked him before the silence in the room could become anymore awkward.

"'Tis alright. You'll be in my class, and Iruka-sensei is alright. The others in the class are also alright. But the schoolwork is a pain," Naruto explained and I nodded.

"I've never been to a ninja Academy. I was captured by a masked man at a young age, and trained by him to be a weapon," I explained and Naruto stared at me in surprise. I shot him a sad smile. "I only ever had one friend. It would be nice to have another one day."

"Um, if you want, you could be my friend. I've never had a friend at all, and, well..." he trailed off and I gave him a kind smile.

"I would like that, Naruto-san."

"A-ah, please, call me Naruto! San seems to formal," Naruto stuttered out, blushing madly and I giggled.

"Then you can call me just Takara. How does that sound?"

Naruto smiled and nodded as I stood up.

"Would you like to stay for dinner? I'm making too much. I can't say if the food will be any good, as I've never cooked before, but it should be edible at least," I offered and Naruto laughed and nodded.

"That would be great. Thank you, Takara."

That night, Naruto and I chatted and I learnt that he was a prankster and that – like me – he was an orphan. His favourite food was ramen – something I didn't care much for but still ate – and that he loved watering plants. That surprised me, but when I asked him why he just shrugged with a shy smile and said he wasn't sure, that it just relaxed him.

"So, is ramen all you eat?" I asked him as he pushed the vegetables around on his plate.

"I also like red bean soup," Naruto added but then scrunched his face up. "But I _hate_ vegetables."

"Well I ask that you at least try to eat some of them. I don't like my food going to waste," I stated and Naruto pouted but nodded in agreement and picked up some broccoli with his chopsticks. He made a face before putting it in his mouth, chewing quickly before swallowing.

"Arg! So gross!" he whined and I giggled at his childish behaviour.

"I know they're not the best, but they're good for you," I stated, trying to make him feel better about the food.

Naruto scoffed. "Don't know how something so disgusting can be good for you."

I just shrugged. "I can't say I disagree. I hate eating fish. I find that particularly disgusting."

Naruto grinned. "So then don't eat it! I won't eat vegetables and you won't eat fish!"

"Life's not that simple," I replied, thinking back to all the times Tobi and Konan had to force me to consume fish because it was part of a healthy diet. I shuddered at the thought of those torturous hours and being tied to a chair.

"Sure, it is," Naruto replied to my statement as he picked up a snow bean and quickly ate it. Frowning in thought. "Ok, snow beans aren't that bad."

"Personally, my favourite is broccoli," I stated with a grin and Naruto scrunched up his face.

"How you can eat that is beyond me," he replied as he pushed the rest of his food away.

I frowned at the waste of food but said nothing as I finished the last of my rice. I stood up and grabbed the dirty dishes, taking them to the sink and starting to wash them as Naruto watched me. Soon, the dishes were drying on the drying rack and I faced Naruto with a small smile.

"Thank you for having dinner with me. I've been so alone since I got here, it's nice to meet someone my own age," I stated and Naruto blushed, rubbing the back of his spikey hair.

"S-stop it. I didn't do anything," Naruto stuttered out, embarrassed.

I smiled softly. "Trust me, you've done more than you think."


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

The next day I met Naruto in front of our apartment building. He waved at me, though he was still half asleep. I shot him a kind smile and we made our way out towards the Academy. Naruto led the way, not saying anything. As we made our way there, I realised that the villagers were shooting Naruto glares. I frowned.

_So, it's true then. The villagers don't trust Naruto because of the nine-tailed beast inside him._

I let out a small smirk. That can be my advantage. I could turn Naruto against the village or gain his trust that way when it comes time to collect him, the Akatsuki will have no problems. This mission was going to be easier than I thought.

Soon we arrived at the Academy and Naruto led me into a room on the first floor. When we arrived, I saw there was no one else there expect for a man with a scar across his nose. When he saw us, he gave us a smile.

"Naruto, I see you arrived on time today. And you must be Takara, come here so I can explain to you the curriculum," the man stated and Naruto took a seat in the middle of the room. "I'm Umino Iruka, your teacher. You have the core classes which include mathematics, science and geography in the morning, after lunch you have ninja weapon and tool training, Taijutsu, ninjutsu, and Genjutsu. As a female, you will also attend kunoichi classes."

I frowned. "So, because I'm a girl, I have to attend more classes than my male peers?"

Umino-sensei sweat-dropped at my statement. "It teaches you infiltration tactics and ways to blend into other cultures."

"Because males never have to infiltrate anywhere?" I scoffed. "Seems sort of sexist. But whatever, I'll attend without complaint."

Umino-sensei looked at me wearily but nodded, clearing his voice as he turned to face the now full classroom. Everyone's eyes were on me, watching me with curiosity. "Everyone, as you can see, we have a new student joining us from this day on. Takara, why don't you introduce yourself?"

I sighed and turned to face my new classmates, giving them a bow. "My name is Takara. No surname. I am originally from Amegakure. Please take care of me."

"Seeing as you already know Naruto, you can take the seat between him and Sasuke," Umino-sensei stated and I nodded, walking up to a grinning Naruto, pushing past him gently to sit next to him and a boy with raven coloured hair and onyx eyes. A boy that happens to look a lot like Itachi.

_Is this his brother that he mentioned?_

Sasuke eyed me from the corner of his eyes and I turned back to class as Umino-sensei started the lesson. I could feel the glares of some girls around me when I had sat down, and even as the lesson continued the glares didn't ease up.

_So, Sasuke is the class prince? _

I remember Ena telling me about the class prince and princess. He said that in some classes there was one or two students admired by the opposite sex to the point that they'd have fangirls (or fanboys) coming after them. It appears that in this class, Sasuke was the prince and the girls currently glaring at me were his fangirls.

After three hours, it was lunch time and I followed Naruto outside to a tree where a swing was situated. We sat down and I started to eat my lunch, giving some to Naruto as he didn't have any with him. Lunch went by peacefully and soon we were back to class. We were focusing on Genjutsu, which was all just theory, and then moved to the more practical classes.

I was surprised with how far behind the graduating class of Konohagakure were compared to the ones of Amegakure but didn't say anything as I shouldn't be able to compare village shinobi academies as – officially – I've never attended one. We were doing Taijutsu sparring matches. The names were drawn out of a hat to make it fair.

Naruto had went up against a boisterous brown-haired boy with a white ninja puppy on his head. Naruto had also lost quite quickly, making me frown. I had thought that hidden villages trained their Jinchūriki to be the most powerful shinobi in the village. And yet, Konohagakure seems to have treated him like a mere civilians' offspring.

"Uchiha Sasuke, you're up against Takara," Umino-sensei called and I frowned.

So, Sasuke was Itachi's younger brother. The one he had spared for whatever reason. Let's see if he's stronger than the rest of the class. After all, I had heard the girls whisper about how he's the best of the graduating class this year and how they felt sorry for me being up against him.

"Do you know the sparring etiquette, Takara?" Umino-sensei questioned and I frowned.

"No," I replied and he nodded.

"Face Sasuke, Takara," Umino-sensei ordered and I did as instructed. "Now you will make the Seal of Confrontation. This represents one half of a seal and means 'I've come to face you in battle.'" Sasuke did the seal and I copied him, Umino-sensei nodding. "Good, now... begin!"

Sasuke charged towards me, aiming a sweeping kick to my feet. I jumped over his initial attack, dodging the punch he aimed straight after and made my way towards him. I aimed an open-handed hit to his stomach, which he deflected and I dodged out of the way as he tried to kick me in the chest.

I made my way to the very edge of the training circle, putting distance between Sasuke and I as I tried to think of a way to get to him. He frowned before moving forward and aiming an uppercut towards my face. I blocked the punch, grabbing his wrist and pulling him forward before reaching my leg up towards his face, my foot connecting with his face and sending him flying to the ground.

Before he could recover, I jumped on him, flipping him over so he was on his stomach, locking his wrists behind his back with my legs keeping his pinned to the ground. Both of us were panting (me faking it) as the class fell silent and stared in surprise.

"Ah, good job, Takara. You win," Umino-sensei stated and I got off Sasuke.

Sasuke stood up, looking at me with renewed interest as Umino-sensei spoke.

"Now you have to make the Seal of Reconciliation. This acknowledges that you two are still comrades," Umino-sensei explained and Sasuke showed me the seal. I put my fingers in his and we nodded as Umino-sensei called out for the last two students to practice their sparring.

After classes were done for the day, I made my way to the bookstore closest to my apartment. I browsed the books, looking for something to read before frowning, finding nothing that interested me. I sighed, contemplating if I should just go and find a place to train when a book on poisons and antidotes caught my attention.

I picked it up and read the description on the back, flipping through it and reading a couple of passages here and there before nodding and making my way to shop clerk. I paid for the book before making my way to the market where I got the ingredients for making fried rice before making my way towards my apartment.

"Takara-san."

I frowned, turning to face Sasuke who was leaning against a building, watching me with dark eyes. "Sasuke-san," I acknowledged. "Can I help you?"

He stepped forward and gestured for me to follow him.

I followed him through the village and to a training ground. He turned and faced me, hands covering his chest as he frowned at me.

"You were holding back in our spar. Why?" he questioned and I looked at him in surprise.

"You picked up on that? Even Umino-sensei didn't pick up on that," I stated.

"'Umino-sensei?' We just call him Iruka-sensei," Sasuke stated and I frowned but nodded, making note of that little titbit of information. "So, why did you hold back?"

I bit my lip, turning away. "I don't want to become a shinobi just yet. I want a chance to be around others my own age, and I was scared that if I showed off my real strength in today's sparring, I would get unneeded attention. Surely you can understand that?"

Sasuke grunted and I turned to face him. "I want to spar you, _without_ you holding back."

"Not tonight. I have to prepare dinner, but tomorrow? After it, we can have dinner if you want," I offered and Sasuke stiffened, but nodded stiffly. "Then tomorrow."

I turned and left the training field, making my way back to my apartment where I put the ingredients for dinner away. I sat on the couch in the living room, lying down as I pulled out my poison and antidote book and started reading. Before I knew it, it was time for me to cook dinner and I quickly made and ate dinner before doing the homework given to me by Iruka-sensei before having a shower and relaxing in the bath.

After relaxing in the bath for a half-hour, I went to bed, contemplating what the next day would bring.

The next day, straight after class, Sasuke and I made our way to the training grounds. Once there we made the Seal of Confrontation and then started the spar. This time I didn't hold back in my Taijutsu attacks. We had agreed beforehand to only use Taijutsu. I moved quickly, hitting as hard as I could, making things for Sasuke difficult as he tried his best to get on the offence.

I wouldn't let him and kept up barrage of hits, kicks, elbows, and knees. Soon I had pinned to the ground in the same position as yesterday. This time, I really was panting and I crawled off Sasuke. We made the Seal of Reconciliation before collapsing onto the ground.

"You're strong," Sasuke gasped out, acknowledging my strength compared to his.

"I learnt from the same man. He trained me until I collapsed on a daily basis," I explained and Sasuke grunted in response. "What's your favourite food?"

"Onigiri, with tomatoes and okaka. But I'll eat anything as long as it isn't sweet or natto," Sasuke stated and I gave him a smile.

"How about we have onigiri for dinner tonight then? I know it's not really a dinner food, but I'm too tired to cook anything to strenuous," I suggested and Sasuke grunted again.

After a few minutes of recovering we got up and made our way to the market where I got the ingredients for onigiri – including tomatoes, okaka, nori, and some pre-cooked pork tempura – before making our way to my apartment. I led Sasuke into my apartment and together we made dinner before sitting down and eating.

While eating I learnt more about him. Such as his past time was training and taking walks. I offered for us to do our homework together and Sasuke agreed before leaving for the night. I did my usual routine before heading off to bed. Excited for another day at the Academy and the fact that I may have just made another friend.

The next week I worked hard at the Academy, regularly sparring with Sasuke after class and having dinner and lunch with Naruto. I was finishing up my homework that Sunday, before going on to read my book that I bought the other day. I was four chapters in when there was a knock on the door. I sighed, marking my page before walking over and opening the door to see an ANBU there.

"Hokage-sama wishes to speak with you," the ANBU stated and I nodded turning to put my shoes on before following the ANBU through the village.

I got some looks from the villagers and shinobi that we passed, but no one approached as we entered the Hokage building, walking up to his office. The ANBU knocked on the door before entering. The Hokage was seated behind a desk covered in paperwork and I winced. Another reason not to be a village leader.

"Thank you for meeting me at such short notice, Takara," the Hokage greeted and the ANBU stood by the door that was now closed.

I made my way to the Hokage, giving him a smile. "Hokage-sama, how are you?"

"I'm doing well, thank you, Takara. But I must ask, how are you settling in? I heard you're getting along with both Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke."

I nodded in agreement to his words. Smiling softly at the thought of the two twelve-year olds. "I'm settling in well. I'm enjoying Iruka-sensei's classes and am keeping busy by training with Sasuke after class and reading a book on poisons and antidotes."

"Oh? Do you have an interest in poisons?"

I nodded. "And medical ninjutsu. But I've never had the chance to learn it. I hope maybe one day I could get the chance to learn it."

"Maybe you could help out at the hospital in your spare time? I can write a letter of recommendation for it if you wish," the Third offered and my eyes widened in surprise. "It could also be a way for you to earn some extra money."

"I would like the opportunity very much, Hokage-sama," I replied with a deep bow.

"Good. Now, my ANBU have gotten back to me that you are stronger than Sasuke – who is currently our strongest Academy student and suspect that you could hold your own with even an experienced genin. Do you wish to take the graduation exam early?"

"With all due respect, Hokage-sama, I wish to remain in the Academy. I was trained vigorously by the masked man, and never had time for others my own age. I feel like I'm lacking in social skills and think it would be better in the long run for me to remain with my peers," I replied and the Hokage seemed surprised at my assessment.

"If that is what you want to do. I won't force you to graduate early, that's not the way of the village," the Third responded and I bowed my head in gratitude as he wrote something on a piece of paper, grabbing a seal and sealing it before handing it to me. "This is my letter of recommendation to the hospital. You can take it now or later, it's your choice. Good luck. And don't forget to come to me whenever you need to talk."

"Thank you, Hokage-sama," I replied with a bow, taking the letter and leaving the office.

The ANBU disappeared, though I could still sense him following me as I made my way to the hospital. Once I arrived, I asked to speak to the head medic. I gave them my letter and the opened it, reading it before nodding.

"Do you wish to start now?" she offered and I nodded.

"That would be wonderful, sensei," I replied and she gave me a kind smile.

"I'm Fujikura Rini, the head medic of Konohagakure hospital. Follow me," she gestured for me to follow her and I followed her quick pace to an office. Once in there she grabbed a book and handed it to me. "The basics of first aid. This is where you'll begin. Once you've read this book, we'll do the practical for a few weeks. Depending on how quickly you learn, we may get to harder stuff in a month or so."

I took the book from her and bowed. "Thank you, Fujikura-sensei. I will do my best."

She gave me a smile before waving me off and I returned home, opening the book and begin reading. I wanted to become at least decent at medical ninjutsu by the time I graduated from the Academy. And this was the best way to do it.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

The weeks turned to months and in-between schoolwork, training with Sasuke, lunch and dinner with Naruto, and training at the hospital, my life was busy. I barely had time to read books outside of books for my training – and I loved it. I was a workaholic. I knew it, Iruka-sensei knew it, Fujikura-sensei knew it, Hokage-sama knew it, _everyone_ knew it. Which was why I was being kept a close eye on to make sure I didn't 'burn-out' as they say.

I haven't contacted Tobi or anyone in the Akatsuki yet. It's been too dangerous with someone always watching me. But I didn't mind. I could pretend that I was just a normal, Konohagakure academy student. Living a normal, Konohagakure academy student life. You know, just without any parents.

I was wrapping up a sprain in the hospital of a child who fell over when a nurse came in. She looked nervous and was playing with her hands, looking left to right as if expecting someone to jump out and attack her at any second.

"Takara-chan, there's someone here that wants to speak with you," she stuttered out and I nodded, telling the kids parents what to do before leaving, following the nurse throughout the hospital to a private conference room.

Outside the conference room were two ANBU and I tensed up. Was the Hokage here? The ANBU opened the door and I entered, freezing when I saw an older man with bandages covering his face. My face turned hard.

_Shimura Danzo._

Tobi had warned me about this man. He said if there was anyone I should watch out for in Konohagakure, it was him. I forced myself to relax as Danzo met my gaze.

"Takara-chan. I am Shimura Danzo and I wanted to invite you to join my organisation," Danzo stated and I frowned.

"I don't want that. I would rather work under the Hokage," I stated and Danzo's gaze sharpened.

"What makes you think you won't be working under the Hokage?"

I shrugged. "Tobi."

Danzo stiffened at my words, his eyes narrowing. "_Where_ did you hear that name?"

"_Where _do you think I got the Sharingan from?" I questioned and he turned pale.

"B-but I was under the impression..." he trailed off before regaining his composure. "Are you loyal to Konohagakure?"

"I'm loyal only to one thing. And that's myself," I replied and Danzo pursued his lips, nodding stiffly before leaving the room.

Once he left, I collapsed onto one of the chairs, realising that I probably just made an enemy out of one of the most powerful shinobi in Konohagakure.

...

After my shift ended at the hospital, I made my way to the Hokage tower. I signed in at the receptionist before making my way up to the Hokage's office. I knocked on his door, entering when given the clear and the Third looked at me in surprise before giving me a smile.

"Takara, how can I help you?"

I frowned. "Shimura Danzo."

The Third stiffened. "What of him?"

"He approached me today and asked me to join his organisation. I declined, but I would like to know that this doesn't affect my standing with you," I replied and the Hokage's eyes flashed with anger for a split second before calming down.

"It doesn't. He was ordered not to approach you. You are to be with your peers, at your request. I will speak with him about it," the Third stated and I frowned.

"Don't worry yourself. I can handle him."

The Third cracked a smile. "He's a very powerful, very influential person in the village. You will be best off letting me deal with him. I'll make sure he doesn't approach you again. That being said, if you do decide to join his organisation in the future, I will not stop you."

I nodded. "Thank you, Hokage-sama. I will take my leave now." I bowed and left the office contemplating what has been said by both Danzo and the Hokage. It appears my peaceful life here in Konohagakure was starting to waver.

...

Today was an interesting day. The start of the graduation exams. Today was the written portion – where we'd be tested on our reading and writing, mathematics, geography, science, and history knowledge – and tomorrow was the physical portion where we'd be tested on our sparring, ninja tool and weapon use, and one of the Academy ninjutsu as well as quizzed on our knowledge of Genjutsu.

I sat in class. Naruto – of course – was freaking out over the written portion of the exam. Even with me tutoring him from time to time, he still wasn't the sharpest kunai in the pouch and it often showed with his test results. Everyone was sure he was going to fail the exams completely. Me? I had more faith in him. He'll do poorly on the written exams but still pass, as for the physical exams, he'll do alright as long as he isn't tested on the clone jutsu. Of course, knowing his luck, that _would _be what we're tested on.

Iruka-sensei arrived and the class settled down. He explained the first exam and then handed it out. Once everyone had their exams, he told us to begin. This went on for all the written exams for the day and I was confident that I got in the top five for the class (if not the top three with me being either second or third. I suspected Nara Shikamaru would be first place for the theory, with a girl with pink hair named Haruno Sakura taking up either second or third).

The next day came along with the practical portion of the exam. First came the sparring. I was up against Sasuke and I won like usual, though Sasuke now put up more of a fight thanks to our regular sparring sessions. I actually worked up a bit of a pant now when training with him that I didn't have to fake.

Then came weapon and ninja tool use. Naruto was the best when it came to using ninja tools to create traps (it was skill he developed from his pranks) and Sasuke was the best when it came to throwing weapons followed closely by me. We were then quizzed in a separate room on Genjutsu, and then came time for the dreaded ninjutsu test. As I suspected, it was the clone jutsu and Naruto failed. By the end of the day, everyone but Naruto passed the graduation exams.

I tried to cheer Naruto up but he just pushed me away, telling me he wanted to be alone and so I left him to his sorrows, going with Sasuke for another sparring session. Tomorrow we had off whilst they sorted out the teams and we're supposed to get our I.D photos taken.

Because I had graduated, I decided to go to the shops and get some proper clothing for missions instead of what I already had. I chose an outfit and got about five pairs of the same outfit, paying with the money I had earned from working at the hospital. I returned home and was surprised to Iruka-sensei knocking on my door.

"Iruka-sensei?" I called out and he spun around, relief flooding his features.

"Takara-chan, have you seen Naruto? He stole something from the Hokage office and everyone's after him," Iruka-sensei questioned and I frowned. That didn't sound like something Naruto would do for a prank. Even he had his limits.

"No, I haven't seen him. But if you want, I can help you look?" I offered and Iruka-sensei shook his head.

"No, it's fine. Just keep an ear out if he returns, will you?"

I nodded and Iruka-sensei left, leaving me frowning as I unlocked the door to my apartment and entered.

_Naruto, what are you doing?_

...

I woke up early the next day to banging on my door. I groaned and got up, walking over to the front door and pushing it open, seeing Naruto standing there with a bright grin on his face. I frowned.

"Naruto, what are you doing here so early?" I questioned as I glanced at the clock on the wall and saw it wasn't even six o'clock yet.

"I graduated! I learnt this super cool jutsu and Iruka-sensei and old man Hokage allowed me to graduate! We'll be training together as genin!" Naruto shouted in excitement and I blanched, looking at his forehead to see the forehead protector sitting there, proudly shining in the dawn light.

I gave Naruto a smile and gestured for him to come in. He entered and I made us some hot chocolate, sitting down across from Naruto, still half-asleep despite the loudness of the wake-up call.

"I'm happy for you, Naruto. But couldn't you have waited for a more appropriate time to wake me up and tell me?" I questioned and Naruto blushed, rubbing the back of his head.

"Sorry. I was just so excited that I just had to tell you. Do you think we'll be teammates? I hope so. I don't want to be with anyone other than you and Sakura-chan," Naruto stated making me frown at the thought of the pink-haired kunoichi.

Sakura and I weren't exactly the best of friends. We respected each other's skills, but she didn't like that I hang out with Sasuke regularly and she never gets the chance. I suspect that if she wasn't a fangirl, we'd probably would've gotten along better than we do now. Plus, I didn't like how she treated Naruto (who had a massive crush on the girl for whatever reason).

"Naruto, not to be a pessimist, but the teams are usually made up of two males and one female. You will be with either me _or_ Sakura, not me _and_ Sakura," I explained and Naruto frowned.

"Awe," he pouted and I laughed as I stood up.

"Do you want some breakfast before heading home to prepare for your photos?" I questioned him and he grinned, nodding his head and I prepared breakfast for the both of us before he left and then got ready for the day.

After getting ready Naruto and I made our way to get our photos taken. He wanted to wear some weird face paint, but I wouldn't let him, and now he was a bit prissy with me. Not that I cared too much. He was my mission target after all. _Not _my friend. At least, that's what I keep telling myself.

We got our photos taken and went to give our I.D's to the Hokage. He was looking over them when some small kid with brown hair ran into the room and tried to 'attack' the Hokage. I flinched, prepared to attack the kid but realised that if it was truly any threat, the ANBU would've arrived to defend their Hokage.

As if to prove my thoughts correct, the kid tripped over his scarf and face planted. I looked at him with a blank expression as he shot up and looked around, eyes settling on me and Naruto before pointing rudely at us.

"You two! You made me trip! You two are formidable opponents. I declare you two my rivals!" the kid announced and Naruto and I just snorted.

"You tripped over your own scarf," I stated and the kid glared at me.

"No, I didn't!" he then went on a tangent about how we were truly good shinobi to have tripped him so easily. Naruto, of course, go annoyed and went to punch the kid when some man wearing classes ran in.

"How dare you treat the honourable grandson like that! Put him down!" the man snapped at Naruto.

"Huh?" Naruto questioned.

"Yeah, I'm the Third Hokage's grandson, so you gotta treat me with respect!" the kid announced smugly and Naruto stared at the smirking kid before punching him on the head and dropping him.

"Treat _you _with respect? What have you done to earn _our_ respect?" I questioned with a raised eyebrow and the kid looked at us in surprise as the Hokage sighed. The Third was obviously over this shit.

"Takara, Naruto, your pictures are fine, you may leave," the Hokage stated and I nodded, giving him a bow before grabbing Naruto by the collar and dragging him out, passing Sasuke as we went.

...

We were walking to the training ground to get some training in when I noticed we were being followed by the brat from earlier. Naruto sighed and confronted the brat and I just leaned back and watched.

"Hey, Naruto," I said, interrupting their discussion.

"Hmm? Yeah, Takara?" Naruto questioned, looking at me.

"I just remembered I have a shift at the hospital. I'll see you tomorrow for our team assignments," I stated and walked off before him or the brat could say anything.

I made my way to the hospital where I signed in for my shift and started to work. I was at that level in my training where I knew the very basic medical ninjutsu – I could heal scratches and cuts using just my chakra. I was just finishing up with my last patient when Fujikura-sensei approached me.

"You've been doing exceptionally well, Takara-chan. I have some more books, these ones on the bodies systems for you to read and study. Once you finish them, I'll start to teach you more advanced medical ninjutsu," Fujikura-sensei explained and I took the books from her with a bow.

"Thank you, Fujikura-sensei. I'll try my best to meet your expectations," I stated and she smiled before leaving.

I signed out for the day and made my way home. Stopping when I realised something. There was no one following me. I paused, looking around everywhere before letting out a small smile. It appears that either the ANBU in charge of watching me have gotten better at hiding their presence, or they have lifted my surveillance. I didn't want to test it out just yet, so I made my way home and prepared dinner, reading the first of the medical text books given to me today (on the nervous system) as I cooked and ate before doing my nightly routine and preparing for the next day. The day I would join a team.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

The next day I walked into class by myself. Naruto had been nowhere to be seen, and I was surprised to see him already sitting in his seat, grinning as if he were the hawk that ate the bunny. I gently pushed past Naruto and sat down next to Sasuke, who nodded over to me as I heard the sound of a herd of cows coming towards the classroom.

Sighing, I looked to the door as it was slammed open and Haruno-san and Yamanaka-san's daughter Yamanaka Ino-san stormed in. They argued over who got into the room first before trying to convince me to move so they could sit next to Sasuke. I just snorted and pulled out my medical textbook and read, making them sigh and walk off.

Of course, my semi-peace quickly went up into flames as Naruto jumped in front of Sasuke on the desk and glared at him. Sasuke glared back and I sighed, shooting both of them a glare as Haruno-san and Ino-san came back and started yelling at Naruto. Naruto looked at Haruno-san for a brief second before turning back to Sasuke, just as a boy sitting on the chair in front of the desk moved backwards and pushed Naruto forwards.

I gasped in shock as Naruto landed, lips locked on Sasuke's lips. I didn't know if I should laugh, cringe, or blush at the kiss as Naruto and Sasuke separated, gagging and spitting to try and get the other germs out of their mouth. Haruno-san and Ino-san – along with the army of Sasuke fangirls – started to beat Naruto to a bloody pulp.

I contemplated if I should help him, but decided he brought it on himself and went back to reading. A few minutes – and a beat-up Naruto – later, Iruka-sensei entered the room. He went through a speech on how we were now shinobi and we had more responsibilities than we did two days ago. He told us how we are now started on a long, hard, and sometimes painful journey and that not all of us will survive to adulthood. Gee, very comforting.

"And now, for the teams," Iruka-sensei announced and everyone sat up straighter in preparation for hearing their names and what team they would be placed on. After a few minutes of calling out names he got to Team Seven. "Team Seven, Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke, and Takara."

Naruto cheered at being placed with me, and Sasuke nodded in agreement as Iruka-sensei continued.

"Team Eight, Hyūga Hinata, Inuzuka Kiba, and Aburame Shino. Team Nine, Eto Akihiro, Goda Daichi, and Haruno Sakura. And lastly Team Ten Akimichi Choji, Nara Shikamaru, and Yamanaka Ino. After lunch you will meet your Jōnin instructors."

We were let out for lunch and Naruto and I sat together and ate. At least, we did until he ran off to the toilet, saying something about the need to poop. I just looked at him in disgust at I finished my lunch and returned to the classroom to find Sasuke already waiting. I sat next to him and read my textbook. After a half-hour, everyone returned to the class and Iruka-sensei started to bring the new Jōnin sensei's in.

Soon our team was the only team left, and Iruka-sensei mentioned something about work and left. This left Naruto, an annoyed Sasuke, and I alone in an empty room. I read my book whilst Sasuke glared at nothing and Naruto paced as if he were a trapped animal.

"That's it! I've had enough!" Naruto shouted and brought a chair over to the door to the classroom, followed by an eraser and I sighed, lowering my book as I watched Naruto prepare his prank on the teacher.

"Our teacher is a Jōnin. An elite ninja. I doubt he'll fall for a booby trap such as that," Sasuke scoffed out and as Naruto chuckled deviously, thinking about his prank working on the teacher.

"Our teacher may just let the trap spring. You know, if he's too lazy to dodge it," I replied and Sasuke grunted as Naruto finished setting his trap and sitting back down, eyeing the door with excitement.

I could sense a chakra coming closer to our classroom, so I put my book away and prepared to see what our new sensei would do about the prank. Seeing me stiffen, Sasuke looked towards the door with interest just as a hand slid between the gap of the door and the wall. The door was pushed open and a man with spiky, silver hair popped his head through, the eraser falling onto his head in a puff of chalk dust.

Everything was silent for a split second before Naruto started to laugh his arse off and Sasuke started to glare at our sensei. I just sighed and leant back against my seat, waiting for our new sensei to speak. He looked at each of us before speaking.

"My first impression of you lot... your idiots," he stated and Naruto stopped laughing, staring in shock at the man as Sasuke's glare intensified, and I huffed. "Meet me on the roof." With that he vanished in a puff of smoke and I sighed, standing up.

"Let's go, boys," I ordered and Sasuke grunted but stood up, following me as Naruto walked next to me.

Soon we arrived on the roof and sat down. Me in the middle, Naruto to my right and Sasuke to my left. The unknown Jōnin stood in front of us, leaning against the railing of the roof.

"Now then, before anything, lets introduce ourselves," the Jōnin stated and Naruto frowned.

"What are we supposed to say?" Naruto questioned.

"Your names, likes, dislikes, hobbies, dreams of the future. That sort of thing," the man replied.

"Excuse me, sensei, but can you introduce yourself first? It's only the polite thing to do," I requested and he eyed me off with his onyx eye before nodding.

"I'm Hatake Kakashi," he started and I flinched.

_So that's why Sasuke and I are placed together on this team. _

If Hatake-sensei noticed my flinch he didn't say anything as he continued. "My likes, I have lots of likes. My hobbies? I have many hobbies. I don't particularly hate anything, as for my dreams. Well, they're my own business now, aren't they?"

"You only told us your name!" Naruto shouted as he stood up, pointing rudely at Hatake-sensei.

I sighed and forced him to sit back down by pulling on his orange jumpsuit. "Naruto. Sit."

"B-but...!"

"How about you go first?" I cut him off and he nodded, grinning and starting to fiddle with his forehead protector.

"Names Uzumaki Naruto, I like ramen and Takara. My hobbies are pranks and comparing different ramen flavours, I hate Sasuke and the three minutes you have to wait for ramen to cook. My dream is to become the Hokage, that way I will be acknowledged by the village and will finally be a somebody!"

"You next," Hatake-sensei ordered, gesturing to Sasuke.

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I don't like many things, and I hate many more. My hobbies are training and taking walks, and I don't have a dream as it will become a reality. It's to restore my clan and to kill a certain someone," Sasuke introduced himself and I saw Hatake-sensei stiffen for a split second before he forced himself to relax.

"And lastly, the girl," Hatake-sensei gestured to me and I nodded, pausing as I contemplated what to say before speaking.

"My name is Takara. I am originally from Amegakure. I like both Naruto and Sasuke, reading, and training. I hate liars and manipulators, and my dream..." I trailed off, trying to think of my dream, realising that I didn't actually have one. I remained silent and after a minute Hatake-sensei cleared his throat.

"Good, you all have your own unique personalities and dreams. Tomorrow we are going to do a training mission together. A survival course that if you fail, you will be returned to the Academy," Hatake-sensei stated and I frowned, having heard of such tests given by Jōnin instructors to their genin teams.

Naruto shouted in outrage as Sasuke stiffened.

"You will meet me tomorrow at six o'clock at Training Ground Seven. Don't eat as you may end up vomiting," Hatake-sensei stated before vanishing after giving us a piece of paper with our instructions on it.

Sasuke stood up and went to walk off, but I grabbed his arm, stopping him in his track. "Sasuke, Naruto. Let's go and check out Training Ground Seven together now so we can get a lay of the land before the test. It will give us an advantage we wouldn't have had otherwise," I suggested and Naruto looked confused but nodded.

Sasuke contemplated my words for a minute before he too nodded. I released his arm and we made our way to the training ground. We scouted the area, learning the different areas and what we had to work with before we discussed strategies that would be best for the layout of the land.

It took a better part of two hours, and I offered to make dinner for the boys after. They happily agreed and we returned back to my apartment where I made dinner for all three of us. We ate in silence before the boys left and I cleaned up my mess, doing my nightly routine and then heading off to bed by nine after spending a few hours reading the medical textbooks.

The next day I had an apple before making my way to the training grounds at five thirty. I know Hatake-sensei had told us not eat, but I didn't like fighting without at least _something_ in my stomach, no matter how small that something was. I arrived and found Sasuke leaning against a tree, a frown on his face, his eyes closed. He was tired.

I walked up next to Sasuke and he opened his onyx eyes, looking at me for a second before closing them again. I sat down on the ground at the base of the tree, leaning against it and also closing my eyes, letting the cool wind run across my skin. It made the warm air more bearable.

"'Morning," Naruto yawned as he walked up to us, also leaning against the tree with a big yawn.

"Hn," Sasuke grunted and I let out a yawn.

"Good morning, Naruto," I replied and we settled in, waiting for our teacher to arrive.

We didn't say anything, all three of us too tired to really talk, and it wasn't until around ten in the morning that Hatake-sensei finally arrived.

"Sorry I'm a late. A black cat crossed my path and I had to take the long way around," he explained and Sasuke and I scoffed.

"Liar!" Naruto shouted and Hatake-sensei sweat-dropped as he placed an alarm clock on one of the three sparring logs in the training grounds.

"Your mission is this. You have to take these two bells from me before the timer runs out. You have to come at me with the intent to kill if you want a chance of grabbing them. Whoever doesn't get bell will be tied to the log and not be allowed to have lunch. They will also be failed and sent back to the Academy," Hatake-sensei stated and Naruto and Sasuke tensed whilst I frowned.

_He's pitting us against each other. Why? What's the reason for such a test? After all, the teams are made up of four-man cells, three genin and one Jōnin instructor. A three-man team wouldn't be allowed unless under special circumstances. So, why?_

As I was contemplating the mission, Naruto attacked Hatake-sensei and, as I suspected, the man defended himself and let out a chuckle.

"Coming at me with killing intent. I might actually be starting to like you guys," Hatake-sensei stated. "But I didn't say go just yet. So then... begin!" with that, he vanished and Sasuke and I found hiding places, hiding our chakras as best as we could as Naruto stood in front of Hatake-sensei.

"That's it! Just you and me! Fair and square!" Naruto announced and Hatake-sensei sweat dropped.

"You... you're different from the others."

"The only thing different around here is your hair!"

I sighed, meeting Sasuke gaze and nodding. We watched as Naruto attacked Hatake-sensei and got his arse handed to him. Using Naruto as a distraction, I aimed some kunai at Hatake-sensei and threw them. His one eyed widened as he swiftly dodged the kunai and I jumped forward, rushing towards him at the same time as Naruto.

I was among Naruto's clones and I aimed a kick to Hatake-sensei's groin. He blocked the kick and had to let go almost as quickly as Sasuke had thrown some shuriken towards him. Together, we all attacked Hatake-sensei, trying our best to get the bells.

"Naruto, Takara!" Sasuke shouted and we jumped back as he weaved the signs for the fireball jutsu.

I started to weave signs as well as Sasuke let out a fireball. Hatake-sensei dodged the attack but didn't realise I had I also sent a fireball towards him, and he had no choice but to use a substitution jutsu to get away unscathed.

He appeared in front of us, looking mildly impressed. "I see you three are working as a team. But tell me, what will you do when you get the bells? Only two of you will pass."

"I was in the Academy less than both Sasuke and Naruto, I am willing to stay behind another year," I stated and Naruto frowned.

"Nah ah! You're stronger than me, Takara! I should stay behind," Naruto stated and Sasuke snorted.

"Another year of extra training won't kill me," Sasuke stated and I looked at both of them in surprise, having not expected them to offer to return to the Academy. I knew they were genuine, as was I, and Hatake-sensei seemed to realise this as well.

"I see. You three have already shown me Taijutsu and Ninjutsu, tell me, can you handle Genjutsu as well?" Hatake-sensei questioned and weaved some signs.

Before I could react, I found myself surrounded by leaves before everything cleared and I looked around, seeing both Sasuke and Naruto gone. I frowned. Freezing as both Sasuke and Naruto appeared, collapsed on the ground with weapons sticking out of them every which way.

I took a deep breath, bringing my fingers up in a seal before pushing the chakra out of me, breaking the Genjutsu. I looked to my left and saw both Naruto and Sasuke staring in space, Hatake-sensei nowhere to be seen. I also saw the bells on the ground. I was tempted to go grabbed them, but suspected it was a trap and turned to the boys, rushing to Sasuke first and forcing my chakra into his system.

He gasped and snapped out of his gaze, his eyes meeting mine in surprise and relief. Then they turned to confusion, tilting his head in an unasked question.

"It was a Genjutsu, as Hatake-sensei had stated. Let me wake Naruto up and then we'll plan our next move," I stated and Sasuke nodded as I walked over to Naruto, waking him up as well.

Just as Naruto woke up, the alarm went off and I frowned. We were out of time. The three of us made our way back to the logs, where Hatake-sensei was waiting for us. He gestured for us to sit and we did as instructed.

"Before I tell you my final verdict, tell me, what was the meaning behind this test?" Hatake-sensei questioned and I frowned.

_The meaning behind this test? Wasn't it to get the bells? Was there something I was missing? Something I was supposed to do besides get the bells? Did I do it? Did _we_ do it?_

"Let me rephrase me question. Why are you put into teams?" Hatake-sensei questioned and Sasuke snorted.

"To make our missions easier. By working together and having different skill sets our mission are not only easier but also safer," I answered and my eyes widened as I realised what he wanted.

As if reading my thoughts Naruto spoke. "Teamwork? Is that the answer?"

Sasuke eyed Hatake-sensei with interest and the man gave us a closed eye smile.

"I have had been asked to teach many teams in the past. None of them have passed because they never knew the answer to the test. And yet you three, you three unconsciously knew the answer without prompt. I have decided to take you on as my students," Hatake-sensei stated and Naruto cheered as Sasuke smirked and I grinned in happiness.

"We will start our missions tomorrow. Meet at the Hokage tower at eight-thirty," Hatake-sensei ordered and I nodded.

"Yes, Hatake-sensei," I stated for all three of us, making the man freeze and stare at me in surprise. I frowned. "Did I say something wrong?"

"Just call me Kakashi," he replied and I nodded.

"If that's what you wish, Kakashi-sensei," I replied and he nodded before disappearing. I turned to my boys and grinned. "How about we get some ramen for lunch? My shout?" I offered and Naruto cheered and Sasuke hesitated before agreeing.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

"Sasuke here at Point B," Sasuke whispered through the radio.

"Takara here at Point C," I responded, settling into my spot where I could see our target.

A few second later Naruto spoke. "It's Naruto. I'm at Point A."

"You're slow, Naruto," Kakashi-sensei stated. "Ok, Team Seven... hm? The target has moved!"

Sasuke, Naruto and I moved positions, following our target. I settled into my new position, the target in sight.

"What's your position?" Kakashi-sensei questioned.

"Five meters. I can go at any time!" Naruto announced.

"I'm ready too," Sasuke stated.

"Ditto," I replied preparing myself to attack and capture the target.

"Ok..." Kakashi-sensei trailed off. "Now!"

We pounced forward and Naruto got to the target first, grabbing him around the waist. I sighed, knowing that this was no way to hold a cat. The poor thing was struggling in Naruto's arms, making things quite difficult.

"Does he have the ribbon on his right ear? Is this our target, Tora?" Kakashi-sensei questioned and Sasuke and I checked the cat's ear.

"Yes, its Tora. There's no mistaking it," Sasuke replied and I walked up to Naruto, gently taking the brown cat from his grasp and calming the poor, frightened thing down.

"Alright, the mission to capture lost pet 'Tora' is complete," Kakashi-sensei stated.

Naruto growled out and went to yell but Sasuke covered his mouth. "You yell, and I'll kill you."

"I'll help," I added and Naruto turned sheepish.

Kakashi-sensei arrived and we made our way to the Hokage building, where we returned the cat to the owner. The poor cat was being squished by the large woman and I instantly felt sorry for him.

"Ah hahahahaha, serves him right. Stupid cat," Naruto announced in glee.

"No animal deservers that torture," I stated, shooting Naruto a glare as Sasuke nodded in agreement.

"Now then," the Hokage stated, "the next mission for Kakashi's Team Seven is an errand to the neighbouring town, to baby sit the chief Councillor's son, help digging for potatoes and –"

"No!" Naruto shouted, cutting the Hokage off mid-sentence and making a cross with his hands. "No, thank you! I want to do more exciting missions! Give us something else!"

I sighed. I couldn't help but to agree with him, after all, we've been doing these D-Rank missions for the last month and – honestly – they were not only boring, but tedious as well.

"You idiot! You're still a rookie! Everyone starts by doing simple missions to gain experience!" Iruka-sensei yelled out from next the Hokage.

"B-but it's been nothing but blah missions so far!" Naruto tried to argue but Kakashi-sensei punched him over the head with his fist.

"Knock it off, Naruto," Kakashi-sensei ordered.

"Naruto is it necessary to explain to you what a mission is?" the Third questioned and I sighed, feeling a lecture coming on. "Listen to me. Requests pour into the village every day. They range from babysitting to assassinations. A wide spectrum of requests are recorded on the request list, and as such they are separated into different ranks depending on difficulty. In the village, everyone below me is divided up by ability in order of Jōnin, Chunin, and Genin. I distribute the requests as missions depending on your rank. If the missions is successful, we get paid, and that allows us to pay you."

I was actually interested in this lecture as I never actually thought much about the process in which missions were delivered. But Naruto, Sasuke, and Kakashi-sensei weren't paying any attention. Naruto was talking about what he was going to have for dinner tonight, and Kakashi-sensei and Sasuke were listening.

"Listen!" the Third announced and Kakashi-sensei rubbed the back of his head.

"I'm sorry."

"Man, you always lecture me, old man!" Naruto whined, tuning back into the conversation. "I'm no longer that little prankster that you think I am."

The Hokage and Iruka-sensei both sighed before a smirk flittered across their faces. I tensed. What was happening? Did Naruto actually succeed in what he had planned? No way. Surely it wasn't possible.

"Okay, fine! If you insist, I'll have you do a C-Rank mission. You'll be bodyguards for someone," the Third announced and I stared at him in shock as Naruto cheered.

"Huh? Really? Who are we guarding? A feudal lord? A princess?" Naruto questioned and I snorted.

"Naruto, those are B-Rank, if not A-Rank missions. We're probably guarding a merchant or tradesman," I stated making Naruto pout.

"She's right," the Third stated and gestured to the door. "Let him in."

The door opened and a man holding a sake bottle with grey hair, glasses, and a bit of a belly walked in. "What? It's just a bunch of brats!" he took a big gulp of his drink. "Particularly you, the smallest one with the idiotic look on his face. Are you really a ninja?"

Naruto started laughing. "Who's the smallest one with the idiot face that he's talking about?"

I sighed and stood next to Sasuke, showing that I was the tallest followed by Sasuke, and Naruto was the shortest. It took him a second to realise but when he did, he tried to kill the old man. Kakashi-sensei grabbed him by the collar of his jacket, stopping him from attacking the man.

"What good will it do to kill the client?" Kakashi-sensei questioned Naruto.

"The names Tazuna. I'm a veteran bridge builder. You'll be risking life and limb in guarding me to the max until I return to my land and build the bridge," the old man announced and my eyes narrowed.

_Risking life and limb? This was a C-Rank mission, not B-Rank. We should only be defending him from bandits and highway robbers. Nothing we couldn't handle, and yet, he was speaking as if we were going to be up against some great enemy. _

"Alright, you three go and prepare to leave. We'll meet at the gate in an hour," Kakashi-sensei ordered.

"Yes, Kakashi-sensei," I replied for all three of us and we left to go prepare for the trip.

An hour later I was waiting at the gate, eyeing Tazuna-san with a frown. Something wasn't right about all this, but I didn't say anything as Naruto and Sasuke arrived, shortly followed by Kakashi-sensei.

We stepped out of the gates to the village after signing out at the gate keeping booth and Naruto grinned, throwing his fists into the air and cheered. "Alright! My first time out of the village! I'm a traveller now!" he announced proudly and I let out a soft smile in amusement.

"Hey, am I supposed to be safe with this brat?" Tazuna-san questioned, gesturing to Naruto and making Kakashi-sensei laugh.

"I'm a Jōnin. I'll be watching him. There's no need to worry," Kakashi-sensei replied and Naruto growled, turning around to face the two and pointing at the old man.

"Hey, old man! Don't go mocking shinobi! I'm awesome _and _I'm going to be Hokage!" Naruto announced proudly and the man deadpanned at Naruto exclamation.

"The Hokage is the strongest ninja in the village, right? _You_ sure as heck don't seem like you could become the Hokage," Tazuna-san stated as he took a swig of his alcohol.

"Ah, shut up! I'll do whatever it takes to become the Hokage! You'll have no choice but acknowledge me then!" Naruto shouted in anger and me and Sasuke both sighed.

Tazuna-san scoffed. "I'll _never_ acknowledge you, brat. Not even if you became Hokage."

"What?" Naruto shouted. "I'll kill you!"

Kakashi-sensei sighed as he grabbed Naruto's collar. "I told you stop it, you moron."

"I think we should get going. We've been at the gates for too long as it is," I stated and Naruto calmed down before nodding as Sasuke grunted in agreement. As I said this, I paused as I sense two chakras in a tree nearby. I looked up, frowning as I couldn't see anyone, but I knew they were there. It appears, this mission was about to get a whole lot more complicated.

We were walking in silence an hour later and I was board. I didn't know much about the Land of Waves and I was curious. But I knew it would probably be rude to ask, so I kept my mouth shut as I walked next to Sasuke, who walked with his hands in the pockets of his white shorts.

"Are there shinobi in the Land of Waves, Tazuna-san?" Sasuke questioned as if he read my mind.

"None that are from the Land of Waves. We get the occasional shinobi passing through or on missions with various clients, but otherwise, we live in a peaceful land," Tazuna-san explained, making me frown as I remembered hearing rumours before leaving Amegakure that the Land of Waves was actually under attack – economically – by a man named Gato.

"Why is that?" Sasuke questioned in surprise.

"The island of the Land of Waves is small, and fairly isolated. It makes it difficult for the land to be influenced by other nations. It's also not the easiest to get to, so it has natural defences as well," Kakashi-sensei explained and Sasuke frowned in thought. "Anyways, it's not important as there are no shinobi battles in a C-Rank mission."

After that we continued walking on in silence. After another hour, we crossed a small wooden bridge. Half an hour after that, I noticed something strange up a head. A puddle. The puddle had chakra emanating from it. I frowned, tensing up and meeting Kakashi-sensei's eye.

He nodded and seemed relaxed as we passed the puddle. A few seconds after passing two shinobi appeared, shooting chains out at Kakashi-sensei and wrapping him up. Kakashi-sensei pretended to be surprised as he was ripped to shreds, blood and gore going everywhere and landing in a heap as Naruto and Sasuke froze in shock.

The two Mist shinobi aimed for Naruto and I nodded to Sasuke who shot forward and grabbed a kunai and shuriken, trapping the chain to a tree, stopping the attack from hitting Naruto. Sasuke appeared in-between the shinobi and aimed a kick to their faces, separating them.

I took the chanced to stand in front of Tazuna-san, prepared to defend him if the two shinobi were to aim for him. As if proving my theory correct, the two shinobi separated from the chain and separated, one aiming for Naruto and the other aiming for Tazuna-san and me. I gestured to Sasuke to defend Naruto and charged at the shinobi coming towards us.

I shot forward, aiming a kick to his chin. He deflected the attack and I hit him with an open-palm hit to the chest, pushing him back as I pulled out some ninja wire, and tied it to two shuriken, shooting them around him and causing him to be pulled back to a tree, where he was trapped as I used two kunai to stop the shuriken from getting loose.

I was so focused on my opponent I hadn't notice Kakashi-sensei arriving again. He defended Naruto from the attack.

"Naruto, sorry I didn't come sooner. You got hurt because of my actions," Kakashi-sensei stated as he carried the other shinobi to my tied up one, tying both of them up together. "I didn't think you'd freeze up like that."

"Anyway, good job Sasuke and Takara," Kakashi-sensei added, but I paid no mind as I focused on Naruto who seemed to be in shock.

"Hey, Naruto," Sasuke called and I shot him a warning look, which he happily ignored. "Did you get hurt? Scaredy cat."

"Sasuke!" Naruto shouted, going to attack him but was stopped by Kakashi-sensei's shout.

"Naruto, these guys have poison on their claws. Don't move or it'll spread around faster," Kakashi-sensei ordered. "You need to take the poison out quickly. You'll have to open the wound and let the poison out quickly. We'll do it in a moment. For now, Tazuna-san, I need to speak with you."

Tazuna-san tensed up but nodded, as we gathered around our captives. "These shinobi are chunin from Kirigakure. They are known for never giving up and sacrificing whatever it takes to complete a mission," Kakashi-sensei explained.

"How did you know we were here?" one of them questioned.

"I could sense you before we left the village," I replied and his black eyes widened in surprise. "Fast forward a few hours and I see a puddle in the middle of nowhere when there hasn't been rain for a while?"

Kakashi-sensei nodded in agreement to my words.

"Knowing that, why did you leave it to the brats to fight?" Tazuna-san questioned in surprise at Kakashi-sensei's agreement to my words.

"If I felt like it, I could kill these guys instantly. But I needed to know who they were aiming for," Kakashi-sensei replied. "Were they simply shinobi attacking shinobi or were they after someone particular."

"In other words, were they after you, Tazuna-san," I added and Tazuna-san stated to sweat in nervousness.

"We haven't heard anything from you about being targeted by shinobi. The mission request was supposed to be just for gangs, thieves, and bandits. Meaning that this mission is now at least a B-Rank or higher," Kakashi-sensei explained, almost glaring at Tazuna-san who looked even more nervous. "The request was supposed to be for protection until you finished the bridge. If this mission was supposed to be for protection against ninja, it would've been bumped up to B-Rank, which is more expensive. There appears to be more reasons for this lie but being lied to is unacceptable."

"Besides, Naruto was injured because of your actions. We have to heal him up and return to the village, as this mission is now null and void," I added watching Naruto as he pulled out a kunai and stabbed it right into his wound, making my eyes widen in surprise.

"Naruto! What are you doing?" I questioned in surprise as his blood dropped to the ground.

"I'm going to swear on the pain in my left hand that I'll protect you, old man! On this kunai knife, this mission continues!" Naruto announced and I smirked as Kakashi-sensei sighed.

"That was cool and all, but lose any more blood and you'll die," Kakashi-sensei stated blandly and Sasuke smirked while I let out a laugh, walking up to Naruto and beginning to heal his hand with the basic medical ninjutsu.

Naruto stared in surprise as I healed up the wound. "Wow, Takara! You're amazing!"

I smiled, not having the heart to tell him that the kyuubi was the one doing most of the work as I wrapped up his hand in a bandage. "There, all done. We can continue on if you'd like, Kakashi-sensei."


End file.
